Third seed Gilles Simon is one of the latest seeded casualties in Montpellier. Simon was beaten by qualifier Dustin Brown in straight sets as four of the top five seeds are now gone at the Open Sud de France. Fellow Frenchman Benoit Paire would follow Simon's lead later in the day.
Seeds Dropping Like Flies in France
A day after second seed Marin Cilic and 5th seed Gael Monfils were eliminated, more seeds in Montpellier have joined them. Gilles Simon was the first to fall on Thursday. The third seed was playing his first match since losing an epic five set match to Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open. Simon wasn't particularly sloppy, but could not get his trademark backboard style working against Dustin Brown. The German qualifier was powered by ten aces and a commanding serve that controlled the match. Brown won 78 percent of his service points and was not broken. The qualifier secured one break in each set to take care of Simon and book passage into the quarterfinals.
Benoit Paire was the sixth seed to be dismissed in Montpellier this week. The fourth seed got the boot courtesy of countryman Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-3, 6-3. Paire was uninspiring as Mathieu took advantage of some loose serving from the fourth seed early to break out on top 3-1 in the opener. Mathieu would cruise through the set in just 28 minutes. Paire continued to look flat in the second as he was broken three more times, including the ninth and final game.
Quarterfinals Set
Other results on the day saw Ruben Bemelmans survive against Jan-Lennard Struff in three sets. The Belgian came through a tense contest 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3. The second set was especially rough on both players. That set saw 12 break chances between the two with neither able to convert. That left it to a tiebreak where Struff got two quick points off the Bemelmans' serve to ease to the set win. The Belgian would strike back late in the third with a break in the 8th game. He would finally close out the match at 6-3 on his fourth try at match point.
The final match of the day would see John Millman rally from a set down and avoid a third set choke as he hung on to beat Edouard Roger-Vasselin 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. Millman led 5-2 in the third when the Frenchman broke him. Roger-Vasselin would crawl to within 5-4 with the Aussie then trying to serve out the match a second time. After falling behind 0-30, Millman dug himself out of the void with four straight points to clinch the win.
Friday Whittles Field Down to Final Four
All four quarterfinals will take place on Friday. Michael Berrer and Alexander Zverev lead the action on Centre Court after a men's doubles semifinal. Paul-Henri Mathieu will hope to thrill the French crowd as he battles John Millman. The match of the day should follow with top seed Richard Gasquet against 8th seed Marcos Baghdatis. The day finishes with Dustin Brown up against Ruben Bemelmans.