MALLORCA/STARNBERG, June 23, 2022
Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut eased past World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev of Russia 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday to reach the semi-finals of the Mallorca Championships. The fifth favourite of the ATP 250 grass-court tournament converted three of his six break-point opportunities to advance in one hour and 11 minutes.
It was the fourth time Bautista Agut has defeated the top-ranked player in the ATP Rankings with his three previous victories coming against Novak Djokovic.
A* performance from RBA 🌟@BautistaAgut knocks out defending Mallorca champ & World No.1 Medvedev 6-3 6-2 – avenging his defeat to same player in Halle last week pic.twitter.com/Kw3mIIt3G1
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) June 23, 2022
“I had to play very good to beat Daniil. He’s the No. 1, the last champion here in Mallorca. He just beat me a few days ago. I played a really compete match,” Bautista Agut said in his on-court interview. “I was more convinced with my game today, hitting strong, very solid. I think I did a really good match.”
The World No. 20 and this year’s Doha champion will next play Switzerland’s Antoine Bellier. The 25-year-old qualifier from Geneva rallied past Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-2 to book his first semi-final spot on the ATP Tour.
Fresh Prince of Bellier 🙌
Swiss @antoine_bellier – ranked 303 in the world – beats Griekspoor 5-7 7-6 6-2 to reach a maiden ATP Tour semi-final in Mallorca!#MallorcaChampionships pic.twitter.com/MHg8vhJw7I
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) June 23, 2022
In the bottom half of the draw, second-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas came through a grass-court fight against US-American Marcos Giron to reach his first tour-level semi-final on the surface.
The 23-year-old Greek struggled to find his top level against Giron, but raised his game when needed to prevail 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3 in two hours and 35 minutes.
“It was a lot of work today. It was not easy,” Tsitsipas said in his on-court interview. “I had to deal with the heat, had to deal with my opponent playing great. It was a big physical effort. I had the fighting spirit.”
The World No. 6 will next take on Benjamin Bonzi after the Frenchman defeated Germany’s Daniel Altmaier 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 16 minutes.
