ATP roundup: Top seeds fall in Antwerp, Stockholm, Almaty

Frenchman Hugo Gaston ousted No. 1 seed Alex de Minaur of Australia 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 as the top three seeds all bowed out of the European Open quarterfinals on Friday in Antwerp, Belgium.

Gaston converted 3 of 4 break points and finished with a 36-26 edge in winners, including a 20-8 advantage in the third set.

Joining de Minaur on the sidelines were second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece and third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada. Czech fifth seed Jiri Lehecka swept past Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-4, while Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut rallied for a 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (6) victory over Auger-Aliassime, despite the Canadian firing 19 aces and saving three match points.

Gaston will face Bautista Agut in the semifinals, while Lehecka will take on American eighth seed Marcos Giron, a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Belgium’s Zizou Bergs.

BNP Paribas Nordic Open

Three-time major winner Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland drew another step closer to an elusive tournament title when he felled No. 1 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) in the quarterfinals in Stockholm.

Wawrinka, 39, hasn’t won on the ATP Tour since May 2017. He is the third-oldest semifinalist at an ATP event since 1990. His age didn’t stop him from firing 14 aces past Rublev and saving 3 of 4 break points.

Wawrinka’s semifinal opponent will be American No. 4 seed Tommy Paul, who beat Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic 7-6 (9), 6-2. Dutch seventh seed Tallon Griekspoor upset Norwegian No. 2 seed Casper Ruud 7-5, 7-6 (5), and third seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria beat Switzerland’s Dominic Stricker 6-3, 6-2.

Almaty Open

Aleksandar Vukic of Australia fended off No. 1 seed Frances Tiafoe 6-2, 7-6 (11) in the quarterfinals in Kazakhstan.

Vukic, who had 13 aces among his 35 winners, trailed the second-set tiebreaker 4-1 before charging back. Tiafoe then saved four match points and held an 11-10 lead, but Vukic struck the final blow with the last three points of the match.

Vukic is set to face Russian third seed Karen Khachanov, who beat Kazakh wild card Beibit Zhukayev 6-2, 6-4. No. 4 seed Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina breezed past Kazakhstan’s Alexander Shevchenko 6-2, 6-3 in 64 minutes, but Canada’s Gabriel Diallo knocked out second seed Alejandro Tabilo of Chile 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

-Field Level Media