Australia’s Aleksandar Vukic beat defending champion and number 8 seed Adrian Mannarino 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 to move into the quarter final at the Almaty Open.
Vukic draws level to 2-2 in his head-to-head against Mannarino.
Mannarino saved a break point in the fourth game to hold serve at deuce for 2-2. Both players went on serve en route to the tie-break. Vukic went up an early mini-break to take a 2-0 lead. Mannarino pulled back on serve for 4-5, but Vukic earned two mini-breaks to win the tie-break 7-4. Vukic broke twice in the fifth and ninth games to win the second set 6-3. Vukic will face the winner of the match between Frances Tiafoe and qualifier Daniel Evans. The Australian player has reached his eighth quarter final on the ATP Tour and has improved his record to 9-5 against higher-ranked players on the ATP Tour since June. He beat his compatriot James Duckworth 6-4 7-5 in the previous round of this tournament.
