Griekspoor ousts three-time champ Gasquet in Montpellier

Fifth seed Tallon Griekspoor continued his indoor prowess Thursday at the Open Occitanie in Montpellier, where he spoiled home favourite Richard Gasquet's final appearance at the ATP 250 with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 victory against the three-time champion.

Boasting 25 indoor wins since the start of the 2023 season, Griekspoor trails only the No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Jannik Sinner (33), for most on the ATP Tour.

The 28-year-old Griekspoor was tested for two hours and three minutes by former No. 7 Gasquet, 10 years his senior. Griekspoor fought off six break points in the deciding set, including four at 4-4 that would have allowed Gasquet to serve for the match had he converted.

“I don’t know how I got away with that,” Griekspoor said in his on-court interview. “I guess I was a little bit lucky there. A lot of second serves there as well, just a little bit lucky there. It went my way. Happy with the win in the end and happy to get another chance to come back tomorrow.”

Into the quarter-finals, the Dutchman will next meet countryman Jesper de Jong, who upset third seed Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 7-6(2). Prior to this week, there had not been a Dutchman to reach the quarter-finals in the previous 14 editions of the Montpellier ATP 250.

Gasquet, who made six consecutive Montpellier finals from 2013-18, is set to retire at this year’s Roland Garros. He was making a record 13th appearance in Montpellier, where he owns a tournament-record 29 match wins. Griekspoor praised the tour-veteran during his on-court interview and the home favourite was honoured with a presentation following the match.

“First of all, big applause for Richard,” Griekspoor said. “Unbelievable career, achieved so much. If I can achieve a little bit of what he’s achieved in his career, I’d absolutely sign for it.”

Merci Richard 🥹

The 3⃣-time champion bids farewell to the Montpellier crowd in his final appearance ❤️@richardgasquet1 | @OpenOccitanie | #openoccitanie pic.twitter.com/HmwXpgVIXe

— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 30, 2025

Earlier, American qualifier Aleksandar Kovacevic reached the last eight after he ousted Italian Mattia Bellucci 7-5, 7-6(5). Up next for the 26-year-old is defending champion Alexander Bublik, who also won the title in 2022.

Nikoloz Basilashvili defeated seventh seed Arthur Rinderknech 6-0, 7-6(4) to reach his first tour-level quarter-final since 2022 Munich. World No. 178 Basilashvili, who has been as high as No. 16, is the lowest-ranked Montpellier quarter-finalist since No. 210 Tsonga in 2019. The 32-year-old next faces top seed Andrey Rublev. Their Lexus ATP Head2Head series is tied at 3-3.