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Gilles Simon sees off Kyle Edmund to reach quarter-finals of Lyon Open

The third set lasted more than an hour before the Frenchman closed out victory.

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Gilles Simon came from behind to beat Britain’s Kyle Edmund 3-6 7-5 6-4 to secure a place in the quarter-finals of the Lyon Open.

The British number two had continued his momentum from Tuesday’s victory over Brazilian Thiago Monteiro by forcing an early break to lead 3-1 and then closed out the first set in 35 minutes. However, Frenchman Simon, the world number 32, produced a recovery at the start of the second set to move 3-0 ahead before Edmund hit back to break and level at 3-3.

Simon, though, took a crucial ninth game, which saw him save three break chances, before going on to win the set after Edmund lost his serve again.

The third set also lasted more than an hour, with Simon recovering with an immediate break back having fallen 3-2 behind. He continued to keep the pressure on Edmund, who was broken again, and the 32-year-old Frenchman closed out victory.

Earlier, number one seed Milos Raonic secured his place in the last eight after the Canadian beat Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-4 6-3.

Number three seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had to come from behind to see off Carlos Berlocq of Argentina, as the French world number 13 secured a 6-7 (2/7) 6-2 6-3 win. Sixth seed Juan Martin del Potro, though, is out after the Argentinian lost 7-6 (7/0) 6-4 against Gastao Elias, the Portuguese moving through to a quarter-final showdown against Raonic.

Russian Karen Khachanov beat Australia’s Jordan Thompson 6-2 7-6 (7/3) and will take on Tsonga for a place in the semi-finals.

At the Geneva Open, it was a bad day for the leading seeds as Albert Ramos-Vinolas and John Isner both suffered second-round defeats.

Spaniard Ramos-Vinolas, the number three seed, went down 7-5 6-1 against Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia, while American Isner was beaten 6-4 6-7 (5/7) 6-3 by German Mischa Zverev.

Fifth seed Steve Johnson, however, did progress to the quarter-finals, where he will play Zverev, after he saw off Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos 6-1 6-3.

Sam Querrey has reached the quarter-finals at the Geneva Open (Adam Davy/PA)
Sam Querrey has reached the quarter-finals at the Geneva Open (Adam Davy/PA)

Fellow American Sam Querrey, the sixth seed, is also into the last eight after his 6-2 6-3 win over Croatian Franko Skugor.

Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic was forced to retire from his match against German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe when trailing 6-4 0-1 early in the second set.

World number 314 Stebe goes on to face Kuznetsov for a shot at the semi-finals.

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