Daily Times

MARRAKECH: Frenchman Alexandre Muller upset top seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Grand Prix Hassan II on Friday in Marrakech, Morocco. Muller won 35 of 48 first-service points (72.9 percent) and will face Russia’s Pavel Kotov in the semifinals. Kotov outlasted Australian Christopher O’Connell 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (3) in two hours and 53 minutes. Great Britain’s Daniel Evans, the No. 2 seed, is the only seeded player left standing after he eased past Italian qualifier Andrea Vavassori 6-3, 7-5. In the semis Evans will meet Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena, who toppled Dutch fourth seed Tallon Griekspoor 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.

No. 1 seed Casper Ruud of Norway needed just 78 minutes to dispatch Argentine fifth seed Sebastian Baez 6-3, 6-0 in the quarterfinals in Estoril, Portugal. Ruud’s semifinal opponent will be France’s Quentin Halys, who ended former world No. 3 Dominic Thiem’s run by beating the Austrian 6-1, 6-4. The other semifinal will pit No. 6 seed Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia against Italy’s Marco Cecchinato. Kecmanovic beat Spaniard Bernabe Zapata Miralles 7-5, 6-2, while Cecchinato upset Spanish No. 3 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-5, 7-6 (5).

Rain affected the clay-court tournament in Houston for a third straight day, as Round of 16 games were postponed again until Saturday morning. No. 1 seed Frances Tiafoe is scheduled to face fellow American and wild card Steve Johnson, and No. 4 seed John Isner of the U.S. will face Dutchman Gijs Brouwer, among other matches. They will begin play at 11 a.m. and fit in the quarterfinals later in the day after a rest. In the only match to conclude on Friday, Australia’s Max Purcell finished off Germany’s Daniel Altmaier 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to complete the Round of 32.