Sinner beats Karatsev at Lyon Open as Goffin crashes out

Lyon, May 20: Jannik Sinner fought back to claim victory in a thrilling battle with Aslan Karatsev at the Lyon Open, where David Goffin crashed out.

Sinner lost to Karatsev in Dubai earlier this year but recovered from a dreadful start to win 0-6 6-3 6-4 in two hours and 32 minutes.

There were seven breaks of serve in a thrilling encounter between two players bidding for an ATP Finals spot as Karatsev – who has beaten Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev this year – was ultimately defeated.

"It was tough," said Sinner. "He is a great player, especially this year with some big results.

"I dug deep and I am happy to have won. It is definitely good to have the support of the crowd in order to come back from Aslan's fast start."

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 19, 2021

Lorenzo Musetti followed up his impressive opening round win over Felix Auger Aliassime by defeating Sebastian Korda on Wednesday.

But it was a bad day for fourth seed Goffin as he suffered a 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 loss to Aljaz Bedene, who will now take on Musetti.

Karen Khachanov saw off Kamil Majchrzak in straight sets and he will play the winner of Diego Schwartzman v Richard Gasquet, a match which has been rescheduled for Thursday due to rain.

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 19, 2021

At the Geneva Open, third seed Casper Ruud won 7-5 6-2 against Tennys Sandgren.

Rising star Ruud – who only gave up one break point – has now reached six consecutive quarter-finals on the ATP Tour and will face Dominik Koepfer in the last eight.

Fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov was a 6-4 6-4 winner over Ilya Ivashka, while second seed Denis Shapovalov is scheduled to play Marco Cecchinato in the last match of the day.