LYON: Argentine Juan Martin del Potro suffered a setback to his French Open preparations after losing 7-6(0) 6-4 to qualifier Gastao Elias in the Lyon Open second round while top seed Milos Raonic moved into the quarter-finals yesterday.
After losing the opening set tie-breaker without collecting a point, sixth seed Del Potro broke Elias’ serve in the first game of the second set but failed to capitalise.
With the set level at 4-4, the 26-year-old Portuguese claimed the last two games and will face Raonic in the last eight on Thursday after the Canadian defeated Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-4 6-3.
Raonic, the world number six, fired eight aces and won 25 of his 30 first-serve points as he dominated a match lasting an hour and 25 minutes.
Home favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga fought back to secure a 6-7(2) 6-2 6-3 victory over Argentina’s Carlos Berlocq.
The second seed, who failed to progress beyond the second-round in Monte Carlo and Madrid, will face Karen Khachanov of Russia in the quarter-finals.
On Tuesday, Australian Nick Kyrgios was beaten in his first match by Argentina’s 94th-ranked Nicolas Kicker – serving nine double faults during a 2-6 6-4 6-2 defeat.
The 22-year-old Kyrgios was also warned for smashing a ball into the crowd as his frustration mounted.
Tellingly Kyrgios, who has hired former French world number four Sebastien Grosjean as his coach, spoke of his respect for Alexander Zverev who could be a dark horse for the Roland Garros title.
“He’s been playing great tennis,” Kyrgios, who has never gone past the third round at Roland Garros, said.
“He has a future ahead. I actually envy him in a way. He does all the right things. He’s very professional. That’s obviously something I don’t quite tick the box for. He’s done all the right things. He’s going to have a great career. He’s younger than me as well. It’s going to be exciting to watch him play.”