The impressive journey of British tennis player Jack Pinnington Jones at the Dallas Open came to an end in the quarter-finals, after he was overcome by the seasoned player Marin Cilic.
The young competitor, aged 22, successfully navigated two qualifying stages to gain entry into the main competition’s bracket. Subsequently, he surprised observers by defeating Italy’s Flavio Cobolli, ranked 20th globally, and the 68th-ranked American Eliot Spizzirri, thereby advancing to the final eight.
However, in what marked his inaugural appearance in an ATP Tour quarter-final, Pinnington Jones suffered a defeat at the hands of Marin Cilic, the 2014 US Open title holder, with scores of 6-1 and 6-4, in a contest lasting merely 78 minutes.
Cilic, a former world number three at 37 years old, is scheduled to compete against the victor of an upcoming all-American fixture featuring top-seeded Taylor Fritz and Sebastian Korda, with a berth in the championship match at stake.
Meanwhile, at the Qatar Open, the Canadian adolescent Victoria Mboko built upon her unexpected triumph over reigning Australian Open victor Elena Rybakina by subsequently prevailing against Jelena Ostapenko, a past French Open champion, securing her place in the final showdown.
The 19-year-old athlete triumphed with scores of 6-3, 6-2, thereby arranging a championship match against Karolina Muchova. This came after the Czech player, seeded 14th, staged a comeback to overcome Maria Sakkari with a scoreline of 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 – a day following the Greek competitor’s elimination of top seed Iga Swiatek.
