Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina kept the home hopes alive Wednesday, beating Australian qualifier Adam Walton 6-4, 7-5 to reach the quarterfinals of the Vanda Pharmaceuticals Mallorca Championships in Mallorca, Spain.
The second seed needed 87 minutes to advance, dropping just eight points on serve while moving into his first Mallorca quarterfinal. Davidovich Fokina will next face Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov, who beat Jordanian lucky loser Abdullah Shelbayh 6-2, 6-4 in the final singles match of the day.
Dimitrov, a wild card this week, has now won consecutive tour-level matches for the first time this season. The former world No. 3 handled Shelbayh to set up his third career meeting with Davidovich Fokina, who won their first two matchups.
In the other Wednesday matches, Czech Vit Kopriva knocked out fifth-seeded Ignacio Buse of Peru 7-5, 6-1, while Ethan Quinn held off fellow American Murphy Cassone 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3. Quinn will face Kopriva for a spot in the semifinals.
Lexus Eastbourne Open
Canada’s Gabriel Diallo knocked off fourth-seeded Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina on Wednesday, rallying for a 6-7 (11), 6-3, 6-2 win to reach the quarterfinals in Eastbourne, England.
Diallo shook off a lengthy first-set tiebreak defeat and took control from there, dropping just five games over the final two sets. The victory moved him into the quarterfinals, where he will face Jack Draper after the Briton beat fellow countryman Jack Pinnington Jones 7-5, 6-4.
Draper, playing his first tournament since April because of a knee injury, failed to serve out the opening set at 5-4 but recovered by winning the next two games. He then closed out the second set in cleaner fashion, advancing in 1 hour, 30 minutes.
No. 6 seed Ugo Humbert also moved into the quarterfinals, sweeping American Jenson Brooksby 6-3, 6-2. Humbert will next face French countryman Quentin Halys, who beat British qualifier Giles Hussey 6-1, 7-5. Eighth-seeded Juan Manuel Cerundolo of Argentina beat British wild card Arthur Fery 6-2, 7-6 (2), Belgium’s Zizou Bergs advanced when Daniel Altmaier of Germany retired trailing 6-3, 3-2 and British qualifier Jan Choinski beat countryman Felix Gill 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-2.
–Field Level Media
