Royer joins Moutet: A Frenchman guaranteed to compete in the Hangzhou tournament final

After eliminating Andrey Rublev, Valentin Royer confirmed his spot in the quarterfinals of the ATP 250 tournament in Hangzhou by defeating Learner Tien. In a thrilling match, the Frenchman demonstrated resilience and talent to win in three sets.

Royer wanted to continue his journey in the ATP 250 tournament in Hangzhou. The Frenchman faced Learner Tien, the 7th seed and 54th in the world, for a place in the semifinals. This was the first encounter between the two men.

Coming from the qualifiers, Royer was already playing his fifth match in the tournament, while the American had dominated Navone and Zeppieri in the main draw. Broken at the start, Royer immediately made up for his deficit. It was in the tiebreak that the two men were separated.

The Frenchman, ranked 88th in the world, fired through the tiebreaker (7 points to 0). Tien then responded, achieving the first break of the set, as he did in the first set. But, being more solid in his commitments, he leveled to one set each and dragged Royer into a decisive set.

Building on his momentum from the second set, the 19-year-old left-hander broke the opponent's service in the first game. But the Frenchman decided not to give up and perfectly reacted to tip the scale in his favor.

He then won four consecutive games, taking an advantage that Tien would never contest again. In the end, he triumphed in three sets (7-6, 4-6, 6-2 in 2h38) and joins Corentin Moutet in the semifinals, which means that a Frenchman will indeed be in the final of this Hangzhou tournament.