Excellent in the tie-break exercise since the start of his Chinese week, Arthur Rinderknech qualified on Saturday for the quarter-finals of the ATP 250 tournament in Chengdu by defeating the American Marcos Giron (7-6 (2) , 6-4), ranked three places ahead of him in the ATP rankings (64th against 67th).
Beneficiary of a little boost at the start of his tournament, since he had finally avoided the Finnish Emil Ruusuvuori (57th), ill after his victorious week in the Davis Cup, and inherited the lucky Australian loser Tu Li (203rd) , whom he had beaten 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6), Arthur Rinderknech was particularly solid on Saturday, once he was broken at 4-4 in the first set by Giron. The 28-year-old Frenchman broke immediately, flew through the tie-break (7-2) and took off at the start of the second round (7-6, 3-1).
Joined at 3-3, he accelerated again, immediately taking over Giron’s serve, to avoid a fourth decisive game in a row in this tournament. He completed his victory in 1h40 with 10 aces and 78% of points won behind his first service ball.
Eleven victories in his last fourteen matches
His journey in Chengdu confirms the renewed form that has been evident in his game over the past two months. While he had only won twelve matches out of thirty-two, over the entire first half of 2023, he has since had eleven successes in fourteen matches, including a title at the ATP 125 Challenger in Zug, Switzerland, at the end July, a quarter-final at the ATP 250 in Kitzbühel and a third round at the US Open.
In the quarter-finals in Chengdu, Arthur Rinderknech will face the winner of the match between Australian qualifier Philip Sekulic (325th) and the tournament’s No. 2 seed, Italian Lorenzo Musetti (18th).
