Third seed Philipp Kohlschreiber has crashed out of the Grand Prix Hassan II in Morocco to a player playing in his first ATP Tour event since 2016.
Kohlschreiber, who was runner-up in marrakech last year, squandered a dominant lead over home player Lamine Ouahab. Crashing out 2-6, 6-0, 7-6(3) to the world No.617. The German was leading the deciding set 5-2 until his rival staged a shock comeback before prevailing in the tiebreaker. Recording his first main draw win in an ATP World Tour event since 2015.
“Obviously I’m very happy to win a match like this, especially at home. I’m very proud I was able to put up a fight and get through it,” the Moroccan said during an interview with Sport360.
“For me it’s a big opportunity to play these players. Maybe my ranking got lower because I’m not playing consistently but I believe I have the level to beat these guys, especially on a given match day. I’m very confident and try my best to win every match.”
https://twitter.com/TennisTV/status/984093171977261056
33-year-old Ouahab has been ranked as high as 114th back in 2009. Despite a promising junior career that saw him defeat Rafael Nadal on route to the 2002 Wimbledon boys final, he has only played in one grand slam main draw. As a result of his shock win over Kohlschreiber, Ouahab is set to rise roughly 100 places in the ATP Emirates rankings. In the second round he will take on Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili.
Another high profile casualty was top seed Albert Ramos Vinolas. The Spaniard dropped his serve five times to go out 7-6(4), 6-2, to Russian qualifier Alexey Vatutin. Vatutin is currently ranked 160th in the world and hadn’t won a ATP Tour main draw match prior to this week. The russian will face Pablo Andújar in the last eight.
✅ Knock out no.1 seed & World No. 23
✅ Reach quarter-final at debut ATP Tour eventAll in a day's work. Congrats, Alexey Vatutin! pic.twitter.com/PmdofEkUHr
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 11, 2018
There was better news for Richard Gasquet. In his second round match, the fourth seed dismissed Spain’s Guillermo García-López 6-2, 6-4 to reach his second tour quarter-final of the season. Booking an all-French showdown with Gilles Simon. Simon eased his way past Roberto Carballés Baena 7-5, 6-1.
