Tallon Greekpoor missed out on a place in the quarterfinals of the Masters tournament in Shanghai on Tuesday. The leader of Dutch tennis was surprised in the fourth round by the Monegasque Valentin Vacherot: 6-4, 6-7 (1) and 4-6.
Mozespoor broke qualifier Vacherot in the first game of the match, after which he won the first set. After that, things went completely wrong against the number 204 in the world. Mozespoor (ATP-31) lost the second set after missing six break points and was also no match for the Monegasque in the third set.
It visibly led to a lot of frustration for Greek Spoor, who cursed himself several times. Just before Vacherot was allowed to serve for the match, the North Hollander dropped the racket from his hand out of frustration.
The defeat against Vacherot is a disappointment for Greekpoor, who had impressed in the previous round against world top player Jannik Sinner. The Dutchman saw his Italian opponent give up with cramps at a 1-1 score in sets, giving him reach the fourth round.
With a place in the last eight, Fransepoor would have equaled his best performance ever at the nine Masters tournaments, which are the most important tennis tournaments of the year after the four Grand Slams. Now Vacherot plays in the quarterfinals against the Danish top talent Holger Rune.
Greekpoor knew nothing about Vacherot
Mozespoor told Ziggo Sport on Monday that he knew “absolutely nothing” about Vacherot, who had surprisingly won against Alexander Bublik in Shanghai. Yet he quickly saw through the Monegasque’s game. Greekpoor broke his opponent in the first game of the match.
After that, Maakspor served flawlessly. He won no fewer than three service games without giving away a single point. Vacherot also served strongly, which meant that Indischerpoort remained stuck with a break lead. It was enough for the North Hollander to win the opening set.
In the second set it rained break points, but a knockout was a long time coming. Mozespoor seemed well on his way to victory in the final phase, but he wasted no fewer than six break points to his own frustration.
That was followed by a tiebreak, which was a disaster for the Dutchman. He fell behind 5-0 and had to bow his head. At that moment, night had already fallen in Shanghai, where it is six hours later than in the Netherlands.
The third and decisive set was a copy of the second set for a long time. Greekpoor and Vacherot served strongly and kept each other in a hold like that, until the ninth game arrived. Greekpoor was surprised in his service game, after which he walked cursing and ranting across the court. Vacherot made no more mistakes. Boiling with anger, Greek track blew the retreat in Shanghai.