Montpellier Open: Gasquet waves farewell to Montpellier as Griekspoor reaches last eight

Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor, the No 5 seed, edged out Richard Gasquet 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 to move into the quarter-finals of the Montpellier Open at the Sud de France Arena.

It marks the veteran Frenchman’s final appearance at the Open Sud de France, with the 38-year-old announcing last autumn that he is to retire at this year’s Roland-Garros.

His last contest in Montpellier was an entertaining one, with Gasquet – roared on by a small but vociferous local crowd – fighting back from a one-set deficit only to fall just short in a tight deciding set.

The vintage Frenchman will be back in France for his final farewell in Paris this spring. But for today, it is the Dutchman who progressed to the last eight after a close battle.

Griekspoor, ranked No 46, will play Dutchman Jesper De Jong next.

In the previous round of the Montpellier tournament, the Dutchman defeated Botic Van De Zandschulp (7-5, 6-3).

Gasquet, ranked No 132, won against Adrian Mannarino (6-3, 6-2) in the previous round of the Montpellier tournament.

Montpellier ATP 250, other second-round results (Sud de France Arena, hard, EUR 673.360, most recent results first):

• Nikoloz Basilashvili vs. Arthur Rinderknech
• Aleksandar Kovacevic (Q) beat Mattia Bellucci: 7-5, 7-6 (5)
• Jesper De Jong beat Flavio Cobolli (3): 6-3, 7-6 (2)
• Alexander Bublik (4) beat Dominik Koepfer: 6-4, 6-2
• Felix Auger-Aliassime (2) beat Arthur Cazaux: 6-4, 7-6 (5)
• Yunchaokete Bu (8) beat Constant Lestienne (Q): 6-2, 6-1
• Andrey Rublev (1) beat Christopher Eubanks: 6-4, 6-3