Not having had viewing access to the grass court tournaments in Nottingham or 's-Hertogenbosch this week has probably been a good thing, being the Richard Gasquet fan that I am.

In going for his third consecutive title in Nottingham – a spark that Richard could surely use after his recent form – the top-seeded Gasquet fell to countryman Arnaud Clement in the quarter-finals 6-4 6-0. I’m not certain if an injury was in play here, but ordering a bagel is best saved for a deli in Long Island, not at a tournament that you’ve won two years running.

Seriously, however, all credit to Clement this week, and for his entire grass court “season” so far – after two weeks, he’s amassed an astounding 8-1 record. “Ar-no” will look to make it nine out of 10 against hard-serving Ivo Karlovic in the final, whom he defeated last week at Queen’s Club. The 6ft 10in tall Croat has used his potent serve this week (to the tune of 80 aces) to bore through Juan Martin del Potro, Dmitry Tursunov and others, in order to reach his third semi-final of the year.

In the Netherlands, it also wasn’t exactly fruitful to be the top seed, as Tommy Robredo also suffered the same fate as Gasquet, losing in the quarters. The Spaniard's loss may have been even more puzzling though, as he fell to Dutch qualifier Peter Wessels, currently ranked at No. 488 in the world.

Saying this performance came out of nowhere would be a tremendous understatement, as Wessels hasn’t played in a single ATP Tour event this year, instead competing in Challengers and Futures events. Also, consider that last year Wessels finished the season on an eight-match losing streak – seven of those defeats coming in Challenger events. But it should be noted that Wessels has one career title – on the grass courts of Newport, Rhode Island.

The only thing more amazing than this may be Wessels’ semi-final opponent in the Ordina Open – it’s another qualifier. Anthony Dupuis of France gets the spotlight this time, although he’s had a much easier draw than Wessels, who had to get through Kristof Vliegen before facing Robredo.