The top two seeds of the tournament, Dominik Thiem and Gilles Simon, quietly qualified for the quarter-finals on Wednesday afternoon.
Dominik Thiem, the defending champion and number 1 seed, won easily in 2 sets (6/3 6/0) against Leonardo Mayer. It took the Austrian just over an hour to defeat the Argentine, who was a finalist on the azure clay last year.
Meanwhile, Gilles Simon, the number 2 seed, dispatched American prospect Taylor Fritz in 2 sets (6/4 6/4) in less than 1 hour and 30 minutes.
In other matches of the day, Alexander Zverev, a young German player, also qualified for the quarter-finals by winning in 3 sets (7/5 6/7 6/2) against Spaniard Marcel Granollers.
Frenchman Paul Henri Mathieu was defeated in 3 sets (6/4 2/6 4/6) by the tournament’s number 7 seed, Italian Andreas Seppi.
The quarter-finals will take place on Thursday, May 19. The Nice-born Gilles Simon and Adrian Mannarino are the two French players present in this round.
