ITALY’S NO7 SEED Matteo Berrettini suffered a 6-2, 7-6, 6-4 upset in the Roland-Garros third round today against debutant Daniel Altmaier.
Altmaier, ranked 186 in the world, had never played at any major, not even in qualifying, prior to this fortnight.
But he successfully made it through the qualifying rounds in Paris last week and took down Feliciano Lopez, No30 seed Jan-Lennard Struff and now the seventh-seeded Berrettini to become just the fourth man this millennium to reach the last 16 on his Grand Slam debut.
“First of all it’s nice to meet you also, first time here, first time playing here in Paris, it means a lot to me,” the 22-year-old German told Fabrice Santoro during the on-court interview.
“I’m happy to be in the fourth round and the tournament continues for me.
“We were working so hard for the past years to be here. I had been struggling with injuries but it feels great finally to arrive here, and better against the top guys. I’m super pleased to be still here.”
Elsewhere, Britain’s Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski produced one of their best performances together to beat second seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 6-3 4-6 6-4.
Murray has now matched his best run in Paris while this is new ground for Skupski, and the pair will next face defending champions Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies.
Murray said: “We did really well. I think we played a really good match from start to finish. We knew it was going to be really tough against those guys, very good team and very competitive, always bringing a lot of energy to the court.
“But I think we did a really good job. Did well to hang in at the start of the third set after letting the second set slip a little bit and super happy to win.”
French Open results at Roland Garros on Saturday, the seventh day of the delayed 2020 championship (x denotes seeded player):
Men
3rd rd
Karen Khachanov (RUS x15) bt Christian Garín (CHI x20) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
Pablo Carreno-Busta (ESP x17) bt Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP x10) 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4
Daniel Altmaier (GER) bt Matteo Berrettini (ITA x7) 6-2, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4
Marton Fucsovics (HUN) bt Thiago Monteiro (BRA) 7-5, 6-1, 6-3
Andrey Rublev (RUS x13) bt Kevin Anderson (RSA) 6-3, 6-2, 6-3
Grigor Dimitrov (BUL x18) bt Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP) 6-1, 6-3 – retired
Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE x5) bt Aljaz Bedene (SLO) 6-1, 6-2, 3-1 – retired
