Fognini reaches Los Cabos quarters, Kokkinakis upstages Pouille
Defending champion Fabio Fognini moved through to the Los Cabos Open quarter-finals, while Thanasi Kokkinakis ousted Lucas Pouille.
Top seed Fognini kept his title defence on track with a 4-6 6-3 6-4 victory over Marcel Granollers at the ATP 250 tournament on Wednesday.
Fognini dropped the opening set, but the Italian rallied to set up a clash with fifth seed Taylor Fritz, who outlasted Prajnesh Gunneswaran 4-6 6-3 6-2.
There were contrasting results for seeds Pouille and Guido Pella on the Mexican hard courts midweek.
Forza Fabio
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 1, 2019
Defending #ATC2019 champion @fabiofogna outlasts Marcel Granollers 4-6 6-3 6-4 to book a spot in the quarter-finals. pic.twitter.com/3gxcN5E5eb
Pouille – the French fourth seed – was sent packing by Kokkinakis, who backed up his drought-breaking victory with a 2-6 6-4 6-3 triumph.
Prior to this tournament, Kokkinakis had not claimed a tour-level win since stunning Roger Federer in March 2018 and he will now face Radu Albot after the seventh seed defeated Taro Daniel 6-1 6-2.
Second seed Pella, meanwhile, saw off Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 6-2 to seal his eighth quarter-final berth of the year.
Next up for Pella is South Korean qualifier Kwon Soon-woo, who trumped Juan Ignacio Londero 6-4 3-6 6-3 for his first ATP Tour quarter-final.
Third seed Diego Schwartzman topped Ernests Gulbis 7-5 6-0 and Mikhail Kukushkin claimed a 7-5 7-5 win over Cameron Norrie.