SALINAS/STARNBERG, July 28, 2023

World No. 222 Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard of France remains the highest-ranked player left in the singles draw of the Challenger de Salinas Copa Banco Guayaquil The No. 3 seed of the ATP Challenger Tour 75 hard-court event in Ecuador battled past Beibit Zhukayev from Kazakhstan 7-6(9), 6-7(6), 6-4 in Thursday’s quarterfinal round. 

The 20-year-old Lyon native fired 15 aces and won 80 per cent of his first-service points to prevail after three hours and six minutes. Up next for Mpetshi Perricard, who clinched his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title in Leon, Mexico in April this year, will be Ukrainian veteran Illya Marchenko.

#ChallengerdeSalinas Copa @BancoGuayaquil Highlights
4tos de Final:
Illya Marchenko UKR a Río Noguchi JPN
Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard FRA a Beibit Zhukayev KAZ. pic.twitter.com/L9fmmmXNBF

— Challenger de Salinas (@SalinasOpenEc) July 28, 2023

In the top half of the draw, Croatian qualifier Matija Pecotic and Altug Celikbilek of Turkey will meet for a spot in the championship match.

Singles – Quarterfinals

Matija Pecotic CRO def. Omar Jasika AUS  6-3, 7-5

Altug Celikbilek TUR def. Abdullah Shelbayh JOR 7-5, 1-6, 6-4

Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard FRA def. Beibit Zhukayev KAZ 7-6(9), 6-7(6), 6-4

Illya Marchenko UKR def. Rio Noguchi JPN 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(2) 

Doubles – Quarterfinals

Ángel Díaz ECU/Álvaro Guillén ECU def. Conner Huertas Del Pino PER/Arklon Huertas Del Pino PER 6-1, 3-6, 10-7

Omar Jasika AUS/Adam Walton AUS def. Calum Puttergill AUS/Dane Sweeny AUS 7-6(5), 6-3

Vasil Kirkov USA/Alfredo Pérez USA def. Pedro Boscardin BRA/Matías Soto CHI 3-6, 7-5, 10-2

Blake Ellis AUS/Tristan Schoolkate AUS def. Andrés Andrade ECU/Abdullah Shelbayh 6-3, 6-4