Monfils Defeats Fellow Countryman Mahut to Reach Moselle Open Quarters
September 20, 2012 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg
Frenchman Gael Monfils reached the quarterfinals in his first tournament back after a four-month layoff, defeating fellow countryman Nicolas Mahut 7-6(4), 7-5 in one hour and 41 minutes at the 2012 Moselle Open. The seventh-seeded Monfils extended his winning streak at this ATP World Tour 250 indoor hard-court tournament to six straight matches, having claimed the title on his last visit in 2009. He also reached the final on his previous appearance in 2005.
Fifth-seeded Italian Andreas Seppi lost just 12 of his service points to beat French qualifier Vincent Millot 6-2, 6-1 in 63 minutes. He goes onto meet fourth-seeded Florian Mayer of Germany in the quarterfinals.
Russian Nikolay Davydenko, the eight seed, evened his record at 19-19 to date in 2012 after he beat Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 7-5, 6-4 in 85 minutes to set up a final eight match against Ivo Karlovic of Croatia. Karlovic reached his second ATP World Tour quarterfinal of the season after third-seeded Spaniard Marcel Granollers retired with an abdominal injury. Karlovic was leading 7-6(3), 2-2 after 86 minutes of play.
American Jesse Levine will play French top-seed and defending Moselle Open champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga after he beat Michael Berrer of Germany 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 in one hour and 36 minutes.
