In a battle of Americans, 16th seed J.J. Wolf held off Michael Mmoh 6-4, 7-6 (5) on Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington.
Wolf converted only three of 22 break-point opportunities as Mmoh battled him. Mmoh recorded more aces (16-10) and each player committed six double faults and made 16 unforced errors.
Also in the round of 16, fifth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria won in straight sets over Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland, 6-4, 6-3, in one hour, 47 minutes.
Dimitrov had more aces (4-2) and winners (22-14) but also more double faults (4-1) than his opponent. Dimitrov converted three of nine break points, to one of three for Ruusuvuori.
Ugo Humbert, the 13th seed from France, dispatched Japan’s Yosuke Watanuki 6-0, 6-2.
A match between Christopher Eubanks and Australia’s Jordan Thompson was suspended by rain. Other matches scheduled for Thursday night included local favorite and No. 2 seed Frances Tiafoe against China’s Juncheng Shang.
Generali Open
Austrian Dominic Thiem dropped serve in the opening game but didn’t lose a break point the rest of the quarterfinal match in defeating France’s Arthur Rinderknech 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in Kitzbuhel, Austria.
Thiem, formerly ranked third in the world, has not played in a tour final since the 2020 Nitto ATP Finals.
He won 78.8 percent of his first-serve points (41 of 52) but converted just two of 10 break-point opportunities.
Thiem is slated to play Friday in the semifinals against Serbian Laslo Djere, the fifth seed who beat Argentine third seed Pedro Cachin, 6-4, 6-2.
Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry, the top seed, lost the first set before topping Colombia’s Daniel Elahi Galan 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-4. Etcheverry faces countryman Sebastian Baez, who eliminated Slovakia’s Alex Molcan 6-4, 6-3.
–Field Level Media
