Second-seeded Karen Khachanov recorded a 6-4, 7-5 win over Fabian Marozsan on Wednesday in the second round of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha.
Khachanov, of Russia, fired six aces and benefited from three double faults by his opponent to dispatch the Italian in 88 minutes.
Top-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia cruised past France’s Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-4.
The third seed, Ugo Humbert of France, also sailed through to the quarterfinal round with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Pavel Kotov of Russia.
Fourth-seeded Alexander Bublik had a tougher time in his match against Marton Fucsovics of Hungary. The Kazakhstan native overcame six double faults and rebounded from a first-set misstep in his 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 win.
Also Wednesday, Alexei Popyrin of Australia notched a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (8), 6-1 victory over Frenchman Hugo Grenier, and Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori posted a 6-3, 6-3 win over Christopher O’Connell of Australia.
Former World No. 1 Andy Murray of Great Britain fell in a tough three-set match to Czech 18-year-old Jakub Mensik, who ousted No. 5 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain in the first round. Mensik needed three hours, 26 minutes to beat Murray 7-6 (6), 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4).
France’s Gael Monfils eked out a 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (2) victory over China’s Zhang Zhizhen.
Rio Open
Seventeen-year-old Brazilian Joao Fonseca posted the first ATP Tour victory of his career, upsetting seventh-seeded Frenchman Arthur Fils 6-0, 6-4 in the first round at Rio de Janeiro.
Fonseca, the reigning U.S. Open boys champion, is ranked No. 655 in the world. He became the first player born in 2006 to win a match on the top men’s tour. Fils is ranked 36th.
Fonseca never faced a break point and won 68 percent of the points on Fils’ second serve.
Only one other match was completed on Wednesday in a rain-interrupted slate. Fourth-seeded Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina routed Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-2, 6-1.
Mifel Tennis Open
The United States’ Alex Michelsen scored a second-round upset in Los Cabos, Mexico, eliminating third-seeded Alex de Minaur of Australia 6-4, 6-1.
The players’ serves dictated the outcome, as Michelsen had a 62 percent first-serve rate while de Minaur put just 38 percent of his first serves in play.
Second-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, fourth-seeded Casper Ruud of Norway and eighth-seeded Jordan Thompson of Australia all cruised to straight-set wins, while Portugal’s Nuno Borges got past seventh-seeded Max Purcell of Australia 6-3, 6-3. Aleksandar Kovacevic of the United States also advanced.
In night action, top-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany was set to oppose Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, and Great Britain’s Daniel Evans was due to face Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis.
–Field Level Media
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