Aljaz Bedene d Gilles Simon 6-2 6-3
Bedene is a consistently good clay court player, and despite reading some predictions that the 36yo Frenchman would win, it did not sway my thoughts pre-match. Bedene was very clinical on his serving, winning 85% of his first serves, and 90% of his second serves, compared to Simon's 64% first and 39% second serves, leading to no break point opportunities for Simon. In fact only 6 receiving points won compared to 30 for Bedene.
Yoshihito Nishioka d Ugo Humbert 3-6 6-3 6-4
In what was a very even match, one could definitely see the momentum slowly swinging from Humbert to Nishioka by the end. It could have been a very different story if there were crowds behind the Frenchman, but Nishioka made the most of it by being more clinical and making less unforced errors, ultimately earning him the match.
Cameron Norrie d Corentin Moutet 7-5 6-3
In what featured Moutet breaking twice in the first set and once in the second set, the Frenchman wasn't able to sustain his lead. Norrie did very well in calming down and focusing when the game could've easily slipped from his hands. The left-handed affair was more close than the score ended, but a well-fought match by Norrie.
Sebastian Korda d Pierre-Hugues Herbet 7-6(5) 6-4
Another close match in Lyon saw the American pull off a well-fought victory. Lots of ups and downs from Korda. After leading 5-3 in the first set, and 4-0 in the tiebreaker, the American closed it out 7-5 in the tiebreaker. Not leaving much more room for error. Similarly in the second set, Korda had multiple opportunities to break at 30-30 or his other 5 unconverted break points, but he got the job done, breaking Herbert one last time to win the match.