Tennis roundup: Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff cruise to victories, Stefanos Tsitsipas crashes out of Mallorca Open

World number one Iga Swiatek showed her resourcefulness under pressure as she beat Jil Teichmann 6-3, 6-1 in the Round of 16 at the Bad Homburg Open on Wednesday, while Coco Gauff reached the Eastbourne quarter-finals and Stefanos Tsitsipas got knocked out of Mallorca Open.

Teichmann put Swiatek under early pressure and had three break points in the Pole’s opening service game, which lasted 18 points. Swiatek, fresh from her third French Open title, held.

After that, Swiatek dominated on serve until the last game when she saved two more break points.

Swiatek made the breakthrough in the fifth game when she surprised Teichmann into an error with a between-the-legs shot.

Chasing back to reach a lob at 30-40, Swiatek opted to hit a tweener and even though the shot was short, Teichmann sliced her return out.

After that, Swiatek cruised until the final game of the match.

Swiatek has long struggled on grass. She has never gone beyond the fourth round at Wimbledon, having made at least the semi-finals of every other major.

“I think it’s my first grass-court quarter-final, so pretty excited,” Swiatek said on court. “For sure, today was a good day. I was happy with my performance. I felt like I had everything under control and that’s great.”

In the quarter-finals, Swiatek will face Anna Blinkova, who beat Leylah Fernandez 7-5, 6-2.

In other matches, Lucia Bronzetti outlasted fourth-seeded Mayar Sherif 1-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 in 2 hours 51 minutes and Katerina Siniakova beat Evgeniya Rodina 6-2, 6-4.

Tsitsipas crashes out of Mallorca Open ahead of Wimbledon

World number five Stefanos Tsitsipas crashed out of the Mallorca Open on Wednesday in his first match with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 loss to Yannick Hanfmann, a worrying result ahead of Wimbledon.

Following another early exit on grass at the Halle Open last week the Greek was beaten convincingly by his German opponent, ranked 48th. The Wimbledon main draw begins on July 3.

Strong on his serve, Hanfmann did not face a single break point in the first set and only lost one service game in the match.

The German sealed his win against the erratic top seed with a forehand down the line.

“A lot of things have to work to beat a top 10 player, I had a really good start,” said Hanfmann.

“With the wind and the grass, having a match on the first day was really helpful.”

Hanfmann faces Feliciano Lopez, in his final competition before retirement, in the quarter-finals after the Spaniard’s 7-6 (8/6), 1-6, 6-3 defeat of Australia’s Jordan Thompson.

Christopher Eubanks surprised Ben Shelton 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) in an all-American battle earlier on.

France’s Arthur Rinderknech eased past his compatriot Constant Lestienne 6-3, 6-2 and will face Eubanks in the last eight.

Adrian Mannarino plays Corentin Moutet and Lloyd Harris meets Pavel Kotov in the other quarter-finals.

Gauff on cruise control at Eastbourne

World number seven Gauff powered into the Eastbourne quarter-finals with a 6-1, 6-1 rout of Britain’s Jodie Burrage.

Gauff needed just 59 minutes to demolish Burrage and set up a last eight clash against fellow American and doubles partner Jessica Pegula, who beat Colombian qualifier Camila Osorio 6-2, 1-6, 6-3.

Enjoying the tranquility of the grass-court event ahead of the start of Wimbledon next week, Gauff said: “Being in a town like Eastbourne where you can walk reminds me of home. It’s peaceful and I need that before getting into a Grand Slam.”

Britain’s Harriet Dart was brushed aside by Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-4.

Russian ninth seed Daria Kasatkina beat 2021 Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Pliskova.

Defending men’s champion and top seed Taylor Fritz was knocked out by fellow Californian Mackenzie McDonald, who recovered from a break down in each set to win 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (10/8) against the world number nine.

“It’s a big win for me. Taylor’s a close friend and it’s always tough playing your friends. It was a battle out there,” McDonald said.

The American will face Swede Mikael Ymer in the quarter-finals after he defeated home favourite Liam Broady 6-2, 6-4.

Eighth seed Miomir Kecmanovic struggled past Aleksandar Vukic for a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win and will face Frenchman Gregoire Barrere after he upset fifth seed Nicolas Jarry in three sets.

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