Muller, former champ Carballes Baena advance to Marrakech QFs

Alexandre Muller’s 2025 surge shows little sign of stopping at the Grand Prix Hassan II.

The third-seeded Frenchman on Wednesday overcame Hugo Dellien 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-4 in Marrakech to reach his third ATP Tour quarter-final of the season. Muller, who is competing this week at a career-high No. 41 in the PIF ATP Rankings, converted five of 13 break points he earned during his two-hour, 26-minute win, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

“It was a little bit difficult to play today, it was really windy,” said Muller in his on-court interview. “I just tried to focus and to really want to win the match. That was the key today, so I’m happy to get the win. I think between the first half and the second half, I really focused on myself and did not focus on the conditions and everything. In the first set I was focused too much on it. By the end, I think I was playing quite well.”

The 28-year-old Muller began 2025 by lifting his maiden ATP Tour trophy in Hong Kong, while in February he reached the biggest championship match of his career in Rio de Janeiro. Now 11-6 for the season, he will take on Kamil Majchrzak in the Marrakech quarter-finals. The Polish qualifier later defeated Jesper de Jong 7-6(3), 6-1.

Also on Wednesday, the 2023 champion and 2024 finalist Roberto Carballes Baena improved on his stellar recent record in Marrakech by powering to a 6-4, 6-4 triumph against Otto Virtanen. The Spaniard earned two break of serve in each set to prevail in his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with Virtanen. He will meet Portugal's Nuno Borges in the quarter-finals.

RCB 🤝 Marrakech

The Spaniard defeats Virtanen 4⃣ and 4⃣ to reach his 5th QFs in Morocco! #GrandPrixHasanII | @Robertocarba93 pic.twitter.com/5g9xvU3Bnm

— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 2, 2025

The fourth seed Borges played a flawless deciding-set tie-break to overcome Belgian Raphael Collignon 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(0). The 28-year-old has won seven consecutive final-set tie-breaks at Tour level, dating back to May 2023.

“I played an unbelievable tie-break, I think it was the best tie-break I’ve ever played,” Borges said, cracking a large smile.

In first-round action, Luciano Darderi and Vit Kopriva kick-started their respective Marrakech campaigns. Seventh seed Darderi downed Tristan Boyer 6-4, 6-4 to set a meeting with Hugo Gaston, while Kopriva defeated Borna Gojo 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 to advance to face second seed Lorenzo Sonego.

Watch Extended Highlights from Marrakech's Wednesday action: