ATP No. 83 Thiago Agustin Tirante of Argentina rallied from a first-set disappointment on Friday to upset top-seeded Ben Shelton at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston.
Shelton pulled out a 7-6 (5) win in a hotly contested first set before Tirante rebounded to win the next two, 6-3 and 6-4. Tirante was a perfect 16-for-16 on service games won.
The loss continues a cold streak for Shelton, who hasn’t advanced past the round of 16 since emerging with a victory over Taylor Fritz in the Dallas Open championship on Feb. 15.
In other action on the clay in Houston, Argentina’s Roman Andres Burruchaga downed third-seeded Learner Tien 7-5, 6-4 and Tommy Paul defeated Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-4, 6-2.
In the final match of the night, No. 2 Frances Tiafoe outlasted Australia’s Alexei Popyrin in a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6) win which took two hours and 47 minutes. He’ll face Paul in an all-American semifinal while the two Argentinians will face off in the other.
Grand Prix Hassan II
Argentina’s Marco Trungelliti (ATP No. 117) upset No. 3 seed Corentin Moutet of France 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in Marrakech, Morocco.
Trungelliti’s six aces helped him overcome eight double faults.
In the only other match of the day to go the distance, Argentina’s Camilo Ugo Carabelli defeated France’s Luca van Assche 0-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Spain’s Rafael Jodar defeated France’s Alexandre Muller 6-2, 2-0 (retired) and Italy’s Luciano Darderi advanced in a walkover over Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann.
Tiriac Open
After a day of called action due to inclement weather, Bucharest, Romania saw eight matches played to completion Friday.
Spain’s Daniel Merida Aguilar, France’s Titouan Droguet, Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan and Germany’s Daniel Altmaier were all early winners. Then the Netherlands’ Botic van de Zandschulp, Argentina’s Mariano Navone, Merida Aguilar and Marozsan all advanced to the semifinals later on.
The third-seeded Marozsan defeated No. 6 Altmaier 6-2, 7-6 (5) while Merida Aguilar outlasted Droguet, 4-6, 7-6 (7), 3-1 (retired).
–Field Level Media
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