FILE PHOTO: Tennis - Nottingham Open - Nottingham Tennis Centre, Nottingham, Britain - June 16, 2024 Italy's Mattia Bellucci in action during his men's singles semi final match against Britain's Jacob Fearnley Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra/File Photo
Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci outlasted No. 2 seed Adrian Mannarino of France for a 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-3 victory on Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals at the Atlanta Open.
Bellucci finished with 17 aces to Mannarino's 10 and saved 10 of 11 break points en route to the upset. After Mannarino tied things at 3-3 in the third set, Bellucci ran away with the match, winning the final three games to set up a meeting with another Frenchman, Arthur Rinderknech, in the quarterfinals.
Rinderknech was a 7-6 (4), 6-3 winner over Australian lucky loser Adam Walton.
Third-seeded Frances Tiafoe of the United States was scheduled to face Russia's Aslan Karatsev and American Mackenzie McDonald was set to take on Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka in second-round matches later Wednesday.
In first-round action, eighth-seeded Australian Max Purcell, Reilly Opelka of the U.S. and Chinese qualifier Juncheng Shang prevailed in their respective matches. Opelka is playing on a special exemption.
The scheduled Wednesday night matches were postponed due to inclement weather.
Generali Open
Across the globe, another Italian dispatched a No. 2 seed, as Matteo Berrettini beat Chile's Alejandro Tabilo 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5) in a second-round match in Kitzbuhel, Austria.
Berrettini collected 31 winners and will move on to face Nicolas Moreno De Alboran of the United States, who downed fellow wild card Lukas Neumayer of Austria 6-4, 6-4. Like Berrettini, France's Hugo Gaston ousted a seeded foe, besting Spanish seventh seed Roberto Carballes Baena 6-2, 7-6 (5).
No. 1 seed Sebastian Baez of Argentina and Spain's Pedro Martinez, the No. 4 seed, warded off upsets. Other winners included Germany's Yannick Hanfmann, Brazil's Thiago Seyboth Wild and Argentina's Facundo Diaz Acosta.
Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag
Czech Jakub Mensik completed a 6-4, 6-3 sweep of Italian fifth seed Luciano Darderi in second-round action in Umag, Croatia.
Mensik doubled up Darderi in winners (22-11). He was one of three players to knock off Italians on Wednesday, with Serbia's Dusan Lajovic topping Flavio Cobolli and lucky loser Chun-Hsin Tseng of Taiwan sinking Fabio Fognini.
However, No. 2 seed Lorenzo Musetti escaped with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Argentine qualifier Marco Trungelliti, while fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego eliminated France's Alexandre Muller. Fourth seed Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina also won his match.
--Field Level Media
