Second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas raced past American Tommy Paul 6-1, 6-4 on Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the ATP 250 tournament in Lyon.
Greece's young star has been one of the players to beat during the clay-court season since claiming his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters earlier this year. He outlasted Russian Andrey Rublev.
"I took control of the match from early on, and after that I didn't let go," Tsitsipas said in his post-match interview.
"I had a few opportunities in the second set to go up a double break and I missed a shot that I felt like I shouldn't have missed. But overall I was playing good tennis today. I was able to move him around the court and find angles, press with my forehand. It wasn't my best day on serve, but I found solutions when things proved difficult."
The Greek tennis player did not face a break point across two sets against the unseeded American.
For his ninth quarter-final of 2021, Tsitsipas will now face Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka.
“I feel like I'm playing good tennis and I can play against anyone. For me, these matches are important, every single one of them. It’s going to be a battle against Yoshihito who is a lefty, on red clay which is my favourite surface.”
*More on GCT: Stefanos Tsitsipas pledges to donate €3,000 for every doubles win with his brother Petros
