Mannarino, who beat Albot in his only encounter in Sofia last year, could not repeat this feat again as the Moldovan was clearly at his best.
File image by Adrian Mannarino. AP
Singapore: Top seed Adrian Mannarino was eliminated from the Singapore Open on Friday after the French suffered a 6-3, 6-4 quarter-final defeat to Radu Albot of Moldova.
Mannarino, who joined Albot last year had beaten his only encounter in Sofia, could not repeat this feat again, as the Moldovan was clearly in top form.
Despite a tough competition in which he saved three match points against the German Yannick Hanfmann in the second round on Thursday , Albot didn’t seem tired.
« I was ready for today’s game. I’m used to playing a lot of games so my body is already used to it. I just tried to fight and I survived, » said he.
Albot seemed ready to comfortably win the second set after taking a 5-1 lead before Mannarino made a comeback.
But Albot shot five aces, two of them in his last game were crucial to defeating the French and playing a semi-final against Alexander Bublik from Kazakhstan.
« I was very aggressive with my serve today and I also felt confident. I kept things simple and did everything right today, « said Albot.
Alexei Popyrin knocked out wildcard Matthew Ebden 6: 4, 7: 6 in the Australian battle and meets Marin Cilic, the former number three the world who overcame a tense encounter with South Korean Kwon Soon-woo to win 6-2, 2-2. 6, 7-5.
« It would mean a lot if I won the tournament this week could win. I lack the confidence and the feeling of winning a tournament. Titles don’t come up that often and they have to be cherished when they do, « said Cilic trying to end a three-year title drought.
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Commonwealth Games gold medalist Manika Batra, who represents PSPB, had won her first title at the Hyderabad Nationals in 2015 and finished second at Ranchi in 2017.
The development came after the BWF decided to postpone two tournaments in Malaysia and Singapore Open from their earlier scheduled dates.
Sathiyan had questioned his missed chances against Sharath in the final at Cuttack a few years ago. This victory put Sharath, the current world No. 32, on a high pedestal.
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Ref: https://www.firstpost.com
