Bautista Agut Rallies To Earn Sofia QF Spot
Bautista Agut Rallies To Earn Sofia QF Spot
Verdasco also through to last eight
Roberto Bautista Agut reached his third quarter-final of the season on Wednesday, recovering from a set down to beat Matthew Ebden 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 at the Sofia Open.
The Doha champion (d. Berdych) notched his 10th victory in 11 matches this season after one hour and 49 minutes, withstanding 11 aces from his opponent and converting four of nine break points en route to victory. Bautista Agut will meet Yannick Maden or Marton Fucsovics for a place in the semi-finals. Fucsovics advanced to the second round after defeating eighth seed Andreas Seppi 6-2, 7-6(2).
Fernando Verdasco raced into his first quarter-final of the season, beating Bulgarian qualifier Alexandar Lazarov 6-2, 6-1 in 51 minutes. The sixth-seeded Spaniard will face 2018 runner-up Marius Copil in the second round.
Martin Klizan eliminated defending champion Mirza Basic 6-0, 3-6, 6-2 to reach the second round. The six-time tour-level titlist converted all five break points he created to set a second-round clash against German qualifier Daniel Brands.
Mikhail Kukushkin will meet Gael Monfils for a quarter-final spot. The 31-year-old Kazakh edged Laslo Djere of Serbia 7-6(6), 6-4.
Did You Know?
Bautista Agut won three five-set matches in his opening four encounters at this year’s Australian Open to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final. The Spaniard ended a nine-match losing streak in Grand Slam fourth-round matches to make it to the last eight in Melbourne, where he lost in four sets to #NextGenATP Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas.