Andreas Seppi has reached his first ATP quarter final since Hamburg in July 2015 after beating Thiemo De Bakker 6-2 6-1 in just 57 minutes at the Garanti Koza Sofia Open. De Bakker dropped his serve in the first game of the match after going up 40-0. Seppi got a double break to 15 to open up a 5-1 lead. The Italian held his service games en route to cruising to 6-2 in the first set.
Seppi went up a break to love at the start of the second set. The Italian had to save a break point on his service game. After two games on serve Seppi got the double break in the fifth game with a lob, a return winner and a forehand passing shot to open up a 4-1 lead. Seppi broke for the third time in the third set to seal the second set 6-1 setting up a quarter final against Martin Klizan. Seppi leads 2-0 in his previous head-to-head matches against Klizan.
Viktor Troicki reached the quarter finals after beating Daniel Brands 6-4 6-3. The Serbian player, who won teh Sydney ATP 250 title and has a 8-2 win-loss record so far this year, will face either Phillip Kohlschreiber. Troicki was solid on serve and never faced a break point in the whole match. Troicki broke serve once in each set. The Serbian player dropped just one point on serve in the first set and broke serve in the 10th game. Troicki broke serve in the 6th game en route to winning the second set 6-3.
“He has a very aggressive game, which I usually like to play against and that’s maybe why I played really well. I have played Kohlschreiber a few times and he is a very good player. To me, he should be always top 20. He has beaten me the last few times. I will have to play my best. If I play against him, I have never played Dzumhur, but I know him”, said Troicki.
Kohlschreiber overcame a second-set loss to edge past Damir Dzumhur 6-1 4-6 6-3. Kohlschreiber broke serve three times to cruise to 6-1 in the first set. The German dropped just four points on serve in the opening set. Dzumhur bounced back in the second set when he saved five break points. The Bosnian player converted his break point chance in the first game after four deuces. He saved two break points in the fourth game to build a 3-1 lead.
Kohlschreiber went up 0-40 but wasted his chances to break back in the 6th game, as Dzumur won five consecutive points to hold his serve en route to taking the second set 6-4. Kohlschreiber got an early break in the second game of the decider and dropped just six points on serve en route to winning the third set 6-3.
Top seed Roberto Bautista Agut has reached the quarter final as Filip Krajinovic retired before the match because of a right shoulder injury. The Spanish player will take on Adrian Mannarino, who rallied from losing the second set at the tie.break to overcome Marius Copil 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 in the longest match of the day. Mannarino did not face any break points and got two breaks of serve in the whole match (one in the first set and one in the third set). Mannarino broke serve in the seventh game and dropped only five points on serve to clinch the first set 6-4. Copil took the second set 7-5 forcing the second set to the third set. The decider went on serve until the 8th game when Mannarino got the decisive break before serving out the match in the next game.
Gilles Mueller edged past Ricardas Berankis 7-5 7-6. Berankis saved 10 of the 12 break points he faced. There were no chances to break for both players until 4-4. Mueller broke for the first time in the 12th game to clinch the first set
Beranking broke serve in the fifth game. The Latvian saved two break points at 5-3 but Mueller broke back to love as Berankis made a double fault when he was serving for the second set. Mueller missed his match point on return in the 12th game but prevailed 7-4 in the tie-break.
