ATP Tour: Fabio Fognini reaches Los Cabos quarters

Fabio Fognini's title defence remains on track after his three-set win, while Thanasi Kokkinakis stopped fourth seed Lucas Pouille.

Los Cabos Open champion Fabio Fognini

Defending champion Fabio Fognini moved through to the Los Cabos Open quarterfinals, while Thanasi Kokkinakis ousted Lucas Pouille.

Top seed Fognini kept his title defence on track with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Marcel Granollers at the ATP 250 tournament on Wednesday. Fognini dropped the opening set, but the Italian rallied to set up a clash with fifth seed Taylor Fritz, who outlasted Prajnesh Gunneswaran 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

There were contrasting results for seeds Pouille and Guido Pella on the Mexican hard courts midweek. Pouille — the French fourth seed — was sent packing by Kokkinakis, who backed up his drought-breaking victory with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 triumph.

Forza Fabio

Defending #ATC2019 champion @fabiofogna outlasts Marcel Granollers 4-6 6-3 6-4 to book a spot in the quarter-finals. pic.twitter.com/3gxcN5E5eb

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 1, 2019

 

Prior to this tournament, Kokkinakis had not claimed a tour-level win since stunning Roger Federer in March, 2018 and he will now face Radu Albot after the seventh seed defeated Taro Daniel 6-1, 6-2. Second seed Pella, meanwhile, saw off Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-2 to seal his eighth quarterfinal berth of the year.

Next up for Pella is South Korean qualifier Kwon Soon-woo, who trumped Juan Ignacio Londero 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 for his first ATP Tour quarterfinal.

Third seed Diego Schwartzman topped Ernests Gulbis 7-5, 6-0 and Mikhail Kukushkin claimed a 7-5, 7-5 win over Cameron Norrie.