Yannick Hanfmann’s strong 2023 hit a new high Wednesday at the Mallorca Championships.
The German defeated top seed and defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 at the grass-court ATP 250 in Spain’s Balaeric Islands for the biggest win of his career. Hanfmann won 80 per cent (36/45) of points behind his first serve in a rock-solid performance to reach his first non-clay ATP Tour quarter-final.
“I think a lot of things have to work to beat a Top 10 player,” said Hanfmann after his win against the World No. 5. “I think I had a really good start. Maybe Stefanos was a little bit rusty in the conditions. With the wind and the grass it was not that easy, so maybe having a match already on the first day was really important.
“I served really well in all three sets. Just that one service game with two double faults, but overall I’m really happy with my performance.”
Biggest win of his career! 👊@YannickHanfmann takes out the defending champion in Mallorca, Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-4 3-6 6-2 💪@MallorcaChamps | #MallorcaChampionships pic.twitter.com/RRcO6zg409
— ATP Tour (@atptour) June 28, 2023
Hanfmann broke Tsitsipas’ serve in the opening game of the match and two more times in the deciding set to seal his victory. The 31-year-old, who broke the Top 50 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings on Monday, now holds a 16-9 record for 2023. He reached his maiden ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final in May in Madrid, a run that included Top 10 victories against Taylor Fritz and Andrey Rublev.
Now into the quarter-finals on Mallorca debut, Hanfmann will next take on home favourite Feliciano Lopez, who extended his run at the final event of his professional career with a 7-6(6), 1-6, 6-3 triumph against Jordan Thompson. With his two-hour, six-minute victory, the 41-year-old Lopez became the oldest ATP Tour quarter-finalist since Jimmy Connors reached the last eight in Halle aged 42 in 1995.
Christopher Eubanks also upset a seeded opponent to reach his first tour-level quarter-final on grass in Mallorca. The American downed his countryman Ben Shelton 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(2) in the pair’s maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting. Eubanks hit 40 winners to Shelton’s 30 for a hard-earned two-hour, 43-minute triumph.
The 27-year-old Eubanks will next face Arthur Rinderknech, after the lucky loser defeated his fellow Frenchman Constant Lestienne 6-3, 6-2.
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