World No 1 Daniil Medvedev crashed out of Mallorca Championships after losing the quarterfinal match in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 against Roberto Bautista Agut here on Thursday.
It was not the first time the 34-year-old Spaniard has troubled Medvedev. In fact, Bautista Agut won their three previous meetings outside of Halle with the loss of just one set.
Medvedev consistently frustrates opponents with his solid play, flat strokes and big first serve that puts them under pressure throughout the match. But it was the top seed who was visibly frustrated on Thursday, making uncharacteristic errors against Bautista Agut.
Normally, Medvedev is comfortable staying in extended rallies with anyone on Tour. But against Bautista Agut, he was trying to change the rhythm with drop shots and other plays, while the Spaniard remained in his comfort zone. The fifth seed faced just one break point – which he saved – in his 71-minute triumph.
Bautista Agut won his first ATP Tour trophy in 2014 on the grass of ‘s-Hertogenbosch and reached the Wimbledon semifinals in 2019.
Stefanos Tsitsipas came through a grass-court battle against American Marcos Giron at the Mallorca Championships to reach his first tour-level semifinal.
The Greek struggled to find his top level against Giron, but raised his game when needed to advance 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3 in two hours and 35 minutes.
“It was a lot of work today. It was not easy,” Tsitsipas said in his on-court interview.
“I had to deal with the heat, had to deal with my opponent playing great. It was a big physical effort. I had the fighting spirit.”
In a tight clash at the ATP 250 event, Tsitsipas showed his fighting spirit in a tense third set. The second seed saved both break points he faced to hold for 1-0, before he gained the decisive break in the eighth game to improve to 2-0 in his ATP ‘Head to Head’ series against Giron.
Tsitsipas, who has earned a Tour-leading 38 wins this season, will next play Benjamin Bonzi after the Frenchman defeated Germany’s Daniel Altmaier 6-3, 6-4.
Earlier this month, the World No. 6 earned grass-court victories over Dominic Stricker in Stuttgart and Bonzi in Halle. He now holds a 4-2 record on the surface in 2022.
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