Millman Shocks Defending Champion Pouille In Budapest
Australian John Millman let slip an upset opportunity earlier this year in Brisbane, where he squandered two match points against reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov. But the 28-year-old did not stumble with the lead in a big moment Thursday at the Gazprom Hungarian Open.
Millman defeated top seed and defending champion Lucas Pouille, the World No. 14, 6-3, 6-4 to clinch the best win of his career by ATP Ranking. The Australian moves into an ATP World Tour quarter-final for the first time since 2016 Winston-Salem, where he advanced to the semi-finals (l. to Carreno Busta).
"Really happy with how I played, how I stuck with it mentally. I thought I took my chances well today," said Millman, who prior to this week had not played on clay since last September. "I've come close a few times as of late but couldn't quite get through, so a really good result, especially considering it's my first tournament on clay in a long time."
Pouille, who triumphed in Montpellier and reached the final in Marseille and Dubai, falls to 13-7 on the season.
Italian Andreas Seppi was down a set and a break in his first-round match in Budapest. But after surviving that battle, he has rode the momentum. On Thursday he moved into his second tour-level quarter-final of the season, beating former World No. 8 Mikhail Youzhny 6-1, 6-2 in 63 minutes, losing just three points on his first serve. Youzhny remains three victories away from No. 500 in his career.
The 34-year-old Seppi’s efforts in Hungary come on the heels of a strong performance last week when in Monte-Carlo, where he qualified before winning two three-setters to advance to the Round of 16 at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. It was only the second time Seppi reached that round in 12 Monte-Carlo appearances. Seppi also reached the semi-finals at Rotterdam in February before losing to eventual champion Roger Federer.
In the next round, Seppi will face a surprise opponent. #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov lost his third consecutive match, as Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili ousted the 19-year-old 6-2, 6-4 in 69 minutes.
“I think Nikoloz played really well today,” Shapovalov said. “He came out firing. I had my chances early on and didn’t take advantage and then he took advantage. After that it was kind of hard to get a rhythm.”
Before advancing to the quarter-finals two weeks ago in Marrakech, Basilashvili had lost seven of his past eight tour-level matches. But with his performance in Morocco and his upset of Shapovalov, the 26-year-old has now reached two straight quarter-finals.
Did You Know?
Andreas Seppi has finished inside the Top 100 of the year-end ATP Rankings for 13 consecutive years.