Ninth-seeded Russian Karen Khachanov required just 50 minutes and lost just nine of his service points to defeat Mischa Zverev of Germany 6-2, 6-1 on Thursday at the Open 13 Provence. Khachanov won the first three games in each set and goes on to challenge France’s Julien Benneteau, the 2010 runner-up, who overcame fifth seed Roberto Bautista Agut on Wednesday night.
France’s Nicolas Mahut delighted home supporters by beating sixth seed Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and 41 minutes. Muller hit 17 aces and lost just nine of his first-service points, but it was Mahut who advanced to the Marseille quarter-finals for the third time (also 2008 and 2014). He awaits the winner of second-seeded Swiss Stan Wawrinka and Ilya Ivashka of Belarus.
Eighth seed Filip Krajinovic, on the comeback trail from left Achilles and ankle injuries, booked a spot in his first ATP World Tour quarter-final since reaching the Rolex Paris Masters final (l. to Sock) in November 2017. The Serbian knocked out France’s Gilles Simon, the 2007 and 2015 champion, 6-3, 6-3 in 82 minutes. He’ll now to prepare to face another local, Lucas Pouille, the third seed and last year’s finalist.
Wawrinka and Tomas Berdych, the 2013 finalist (l. to Tsonga), begin their Marseille campaigns during Thursday’s night session.
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