Olivetti lands big Fish

World number 388 Albano Olivetti defeated second seed Mardy Fish to reach the quarter-finals of the Marseille Open.

Frenchman defies the rankings to progress in Marseille

World number 388 Albano Olivetti pulled off a stunning upset to defeat world number eight and second seed Mardy Fish and reach the quarter-finals of the Marseille Open. The Frenchman, who won three qualifying matches and then beat the top 100-ranked Matthias Bachinger to reach round two, claimed a 6-3 3-6 6-3 win over the American in one hour and 48 minutes. Fish had been handed a first-round bye on account of his seeding, but was left reeling by Olivetti, who delighted the home fans by breezing through the first set without a single break point going against him. Fish rallied to force a decider, but Olivetti refused to be affected by nerves, saving both the break points on his serve and constantly threatening the Fish serve before grabbing the crucial break he needed for a famous win. Olivetti will play fellow Frenchman Michael Llodra in the last eight after Llodra scored a minor shock of his own with a 6-4 5-7 7-6 (7-5) win over Ukrainian sixth seed Alexandr Dolgopolov Jr. Fifth seed Richard Gasquet made it a great day for France by beating Igor Kunitsyn 6-3 6-2, while fourth seed Juan Martin Del Potro was level 6-7 (8-6) 6-4 with Nikolay Davydenko when the Russian was forced to retire injured.