By Chris Oddo Photo Credit: AFP/Getty Images
(February 23, 2012) – 20-year-old qualifier Albano Olivetti gave Mardy Fish fits all evening with his booming serve. In the end, it was just enough to send the world No. 8 packing from Marseille without a victory to his name.
To his credit, Fish did not go down without a fight.
After Olivetti served11 aces and won all of his first serve points in the first set, Fish managed to level things by patiently waiting for Olivetti's level to drop.
But in the third, 6'7" Olivetti was at his serving-and-volleying best, jumping to a 3-0 lead and holding his nerve to finish. For a youngster taking on an established veteran, Olivetti was very cool. He fought off two break points in a crucial seventh game with clutch serves, then hit his 22nd and 23rd aces while serving out the massive 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 upset.
Olivetti will next play fellow Frenchman Michael Llodra in the quarterfinals. The 2010 Open 13 champion served 19 aces and survived a tense third set to emerge victorious over world No. 18 Alexandr Dolgopolov, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(5) at the Palais des Sports in southern France today.
“I managed to stay focused, which is not easy to do against him due to his game,” said Llodra, after prevailing in two hours and 19 minutes.
The 31-year-old has now won both of his career encounters against Dolgopolov, and he is one of five Frenchmen to have reached the quarterfinals in Marseille.
Llodra, currently ranked No. 50, was a part of two consecutive all-French Open 13 finals in 2009 and 2010, and he has reached the quarterfinals in Marseille four consecutive times now.
Richard Gasquet was also strong for the French today, thrilling crowds with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Russian Igor Kunitsyn. Gasquet will have to step up his game tomorrow when he meets Juan Martin Del Potro.
"It went well,” said Gasquet, after reaching his fourth ATP quarterfinal of the season. “I still think that the score does not really reflect the match. I saved a lot of break points (six), so it would have been much more complicated.”
Del Potro came through when Nikolay Davydenko retired due to a foot injury after splitting two very entertaining sets with the Argentine. Del Potro, who lost the Rotterdam final last week to Roger Federer, is searching for his first title of the season, and tenth of his career.
Gasquet has one career victory in three tries versus Del Potro, but the two haven’t played since 2008.