Gasquet reaches Montpellier quarterfinals as Cilic goes out
MONTPELLIER, France (AP) Top seed Richard Gasquet comfortably reached the quarterfinals of the Open Sud de France by beating Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-4, 6-4, while second-seeded Marin Cilic went out to lowly ranked Alexander Zverev 7-6 (4), 7-6 (1) on Wednesday.
Gulbis, a French Open semifinalist two years ago, had nine aces compared to three for backhand specialist Gasquet. But he dropped serve once in each set and failed to create a break-point chance against the Frenchman, who next plays Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis.
Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open champion, swapped breaks with Zverev in the first set. The 13th-ranked Cilic then missed a chance to break Zverev in the ninth game of the second set before doing so two games later.
However, the 85th-ranked Zverev broke straight back and clinched the tiebreaker with ease.
In another upset, Edouard Roger-Vasselin beat No. 5 Gael Monfils 6-4, 7-6 (5) in an all-French match, proving slightly more consistent on serve and breaking Monfils twice.
No. 8 Baghdatis advanced earlier by defeating Taro Daniel of Japan 6-2, 7-6 (7).
The 53rd-ranked Baghdatis, who won his first match this season in the previous round at the hard-court tournament, fired eight aces and broke Daniel three times.
An Australian Open runner-up in 2006 and Wimbledon semifinalist later that year, Baghdatis lost in the first round in Melbourne this year and received a wild card to play in Montpellier.
Also advancing to the last eight was Michael Berrer, who defeated qualifier Kenny De Schepper 6-3, 6-4, and next plays countryman Zverev.