Mannarino Reaches Mallorca QFs, Lopez Wins In Final Tournament

Adrian Mannarino’s consistent grass-court season continued Tuesday at the Mallorca Championships. The fourth-seeded Frenchman prevailed in a topsy-turvy battle with Guido Pella in Spain to reach his third ATP Tour quarter-final in as many weeks.

The two-time tour-level champion Mannarino trailed Pella by a set and a break but he dug deep for a 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-3 second-round triumph. Mannarino fired 34 winners to his opponent’s 24 in a remarkable two-hour, 31-minute encounter that featured 11 breaks of serve.

Mannarino, a quarter-finalist in 's-Hertogenbosch and at The Queen's Club in the past two weeks, lifted the first ATP Tour title of his career on grass at the former in 2019. The 34-year-old will next chase his first semi-final of the season against Corentin Moutet, who was a 6-3, 7-6(4) winner against eighth seed Roberto Carballes Baena.

Also on Tuesday, Lloyd Harris triumphed 7-6(5), 6-3 in an all-qualifier battle with Roman Safiullin to reach his first tour-level quarter-final since October 2021. The South African, who missed the second half of 2022 after having wrist surgery, will play second seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina or Pavel Kotov next in the Balearic Islands.

Frenchmen Arthur Rinderknech and Constant Lestienne will face off in Mallorca after both notched first-round victories. Lucky loser Rinderknech sent down 19 aces in a 7-6(0), 7-6(3) victory against home favourite Albert Ramos-Vinolas, while Lestienne downed Australia’s Jason Kubler 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

The remaining first-round clash in Mallorca featured home wild card Feliciano Lopez, competing in the final tournament of his 26-year ATP Tour career, taking on Max Purcell. The Spaniard completed an emotional 6-3, 7-5 triumph, in front of a crowd that included his good friends Rafael Nadal, Carlos Moya and Marc Lopez, to prolong his time on Tour by at least one more match. He will face Jordan Thompson in the second round.

"It's a really special win for me, probably one of the most special wins of my career so far, to be honest," Lopez said in his on-court interview. "This is over my expectations, to be winning a match at this stage of my career in Mallorca, this beautiful place, surrounded by the ones that I love, my friends."

"Most of them came for my hypothetical last match. Luckily, it wasn't the last match of my life. I have another opportunity tomorrow, and this is very overwhelming, I have to say."

Pavel Kotov also advanced, defeating second seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. The lucky loser will face Lloyd Harris in his second quarter-final of the season.