Top seed Andy Murray made a late debut this year at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, but was in fine form on Thursday as he advanced to the quarter-finals with an impressive 6-4, 6-4 win over Feliciano Lopez.

“I was happy to play today. It was nice to get through and have another match tomorrow,” said Murray. “I didn’t feel so good at the start, but I played good tennis in some of the important moments today.”

Murray finally took the court for the first time this week after receiving a first-round bye and a walkover in his second-round match against Bernard Tomic. Showing improved form compared to last week at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Murray raced to a 5-3 lead in the opening set. Although he was unable to serve out the set, he responded by breaking Lopez in the next game to grab the early advantage.

Both players traded service holds throughout the second set, but Murray found a new gear in the final game by breaking Lopez to take the match in one hour and 49 minutes. He extends his FedEx ATP Head2Head dominance over Lopez to 11-0 and picks up his second win on clay against the Spaniard.

Next up for Murray is tenth seed and last week’s Monte-Carlo runner-up Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who prevailed in an all-Spanish battle over sixth seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. Murray lost his lone FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting with Ramos-Vinolas last week in the third round of Monte-Carlo.

“I had never played against him before [Monte-Carlo], so now I’ll be a little more aware of his game,” said Murray. “Obviously last week was a frustrating loss, being up 4-0 in the third set, but I’ll hopefully have learned from it and try to play a little differently this time.”

#NextGenATP Russian Karen Khachanov scored his first win over a Top 10 player in the Emirates ATP Rankings by defeating fifth seed David Goffin in a lengthy 6-7(7), 6-3, 6-4 tussle. The Russian saved three set points in the opening set tie-break before Goffin grabbed the early advantage at 8/7. But Khachanov regrouped strongly, striking his forehand with more authority and grabbing the lone break in each of the final two sets to advance in two hours and 34 minutes.

“I feel amazing. It’s the biggest win of my career,” said Khachanov. “I was just very competitive, trying to stay in the points for the whole match and remain solid.” 

The best win of Khachanov’s career prior to today also came in Barcelona, when he defeated then-World No. 17 Bautista Agut last year to reach the third round. The victory today puts the 20-year-old Russian into his first ATP World Tour quarter-final of 2017 and marks the first time he’s won three consecutive matches since capturing his maiden ATP World Tour title this past October in Chengdu.

Standing between Khachanov and the final four is Horacio Zeballos, who recorded a hard-fought 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3) win over Benoit Paire. The Argentine couldn’t convert on a match point on Paire’s serve at 5-4 in the deciding set, but raced to a 5/1 lead in the tie-break and ultimately prevailed in two hours and 18 minutes.

DOUBLES

Florin Mergea and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi caused the upset of the day by upsetting top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers 6-4, 6-4 in 64 minutes to reach the semi-finals. They’ll play the winner of the match between Lukasz Kubot and Mischa Zverev, and Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau. Kubot/Zverev won the lone first-round match of the day over fourth seeds Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez 5-7, 6-4, 10-6.

French duo Fabrice Martin and Edouard Roger-Vasselin also advanced into the final four by defeating Marcin Matkowski and Daniel Nestor 6-3, 7-6(4). They’ll take on Philipp Petzschner and Alexander Peya, who defeated Goffin and Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-3, 4-6, 10-7.

Top seed Lucas Pouille withstood a strong test from Jiri Vesely in his opening match at the inaugural Gazprom Hungarian Open on Thursday. The Frenchman saved two match points to advance to the quarter-finals, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(4).

“I’m pleased with the win because it was difficult conditions,” said Pouille. “We both wanted to finish tonight. Now I need to recover for tomorrow.”

Pouille’s next opponent will be Martin Klizan, who beat American qualifier Bjorn Fratangelo 6-3, 6-2. Klizan capitalised on five of his nine break point chances in the 71-minute victory.

Andrey Kuznetsov upset third seed Fabio Fognini 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(4). The Russian saved eight of the 12 break points he faced to overcome the Italian in two hours and five minutes and advance to the quarter-finals. Kuznetsov will next face another Italian, sixth seed Paolo Lorenzi, who defeated Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

“It was a long and exhausting match for me,” said 26-year-old Kuznetsov. “Before the match, I knew that I could win, that I would have chances. I was playing confidently, especially in the beginning and I had a good fight in the end of the match. It’s not easy against Fabio.”

In doubles, Robin Haase and Dominic Inglot reached the semi-finals after knocking out top seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic 7-6(5), 7-5. Haase/Inglot next face third seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah, who advanced with a 7-6(2), 4-6, 10-5 win over Paolo Lorenzi and Julio Peralta.

Second seeds Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi advanced to the last four with a 7-6(8), 4-6, 10-7 win over Sam Groth and Robert Lindstedt. Huey/Mirnyi will next face fourth seeds Brian Baker and Nikola Mektic.

Rafael Nadal put on a serving clinic on Thursday at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, not facing a break point en route to a convincing 6-3, 6-4 victory over Kevin Anderson to reach the quarter-finals.

“It wasn’t a day where I took a lot of free points because the court was very heavy. But I was serving well, at a good speed and changing directions well,” said Nadal. “I had the chance to hit my forehand after my serve and take control of the rallies, so I’m very happy with how I played.”

Competing on Pista Rafa Nadal, the third seed dropped just nine points on serve and continued to apply pressure in his return games by accumulating 10 break points. A single break in each set was all the third seed needed to advance in one hour and 33 minutes. Nadal improves his FedEx ATP Head2Head against Anderson to 4-0.

After becoming the first man in the Open Era to win the singles title at an event on 10 occasions with his victory last week at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Nadal could replicate that feat just seven days later in Barcelona. His win over Anderson marked his 50^th victory in the Spanish city.

More: Murray Continues Lopez Dominance

Next up for Nadal is the winner is qualifier Hyeon Chung, who prevailed in an all-#NextGenATP match against eighth seed Alexander Zverev 6-1, 6-4. Chung went on a six-game run beginning at 1-1 in the opening set and controlled the majority of the baseline rallies. Although he missed the chance to serve out the match at 5-3 in the second set, he responded by breaking Zverev in the next game to prevail in one hour and 21 minutes.

“This is my first quarter-final at the 500 level, so I’m very excited. I tried to be focused on every single point and stay calm. That was the key,” said Chung. “When I started playing tennis, I wanted to play Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal, so I’m very excited about tomorrow.”

The 20-year-old Korean, who has yet to drop a set this week, is through to his first ATP World Tour quarter-final since Houston in April 2016. Since returning to competition this past September after sitting out four months with an abdominal injury, Chung has dominated the ATP Challenger Tour by winning three titles in Kaohsiung, Kobe and Maui.

Lucky loser Yuichi Sugita continued his dream run by advancing to the last eight with a 6-3, 6-3 win over seventh seed Pablo Carreno Busta. Having already earned the biggest victory of his career on Tuesday by defeating World No. 23 Richard Gasquet in the opening round, Sugita scored a new career-best result by breaking the Spaniard three times to take the match in 77 minutes.

“It was my best win. It’s unbelievable,” said Sugita. “This was very important for my life, so I’m really glad about it.”

The 28-year-old Japanese player only entered the main draw when Kei Nishikori withdrew due to a right wrist injury. Sugita becomes the first lucky loser to reach an ATP World Tour quarter-final since Lucas Pouille reached the final four at last year’s ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Rome.

This is Sugita’s first ATP World Tour quarter-final in more than five years, with his maiden run to the last eight coming in Chennai in January 2012. He has excelled this year on the ATP Challenger Tour, capturing titles in Yokohama, Japan, and Shenzhen, China.

More: Montanes Retires In Barcelona

Sugita will look to continue his inspired form when he plays fourth seed Dominic Thiem, a 7-6(5), 6-2 winner over Daniel Evans. Both players traded holds throughout the first set, but the fourth seed went on a six-point run in the tie-break before converting on his fourth set point. Thiem had a much easier time in the second set, breaking Evans twice to wrap up the win.

The Austrian has already enjoyed success on clay this year by winning the Rio Open presented by Claro in February (d. Carreno Busta).

A first ATP World Tour match win and a new coaching set up have given Gianluigi Quinzi a fresh impetus towards his 2017 goal.

“I have been through a period that wasn’t that good, I wasn’t winning a lot of matches, but I’ve changed coaches to work with Fabio Gorietti,” said Quinzi. “It’s only the third week of working together and I’m feeling very good.”

The switch has provided instant results. The 21 year old opened his account on the ATP World Tour earlier this month at the Grand Prix Hassan II with a 7-6(8), 6-3 victory over Paul-Henri Mathieu. The left-hander then narrowly fell 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-4 to countryman and World No. 38 Paolo Lorenzi.

“We have already gone through qualifying at an ATP World Tour event, in Marrakech, and I won another match too, which gives me unbelievable confidence, knowing I can be competitive with these guys at that level,” added the Italian. “Lorenzi is a top player, especially for his age and I only just lost.”

“I then came to China feeling confident. In the China International Challenger Qingdao 2017, I played ok and managed to beat (Blaz) Kavcic, before a tough match with Kimmer Coppejans. Here at the 2017 Kunming Challenger, I came through qualies again. I’ve played great, but I came up against a guy (Oscar Otte) with great confidence, who made a final in Qingdao last week.”

Quinzi hopes that breaking new ground on the ATP World Tour and keeping up promising performances on the ATP Challenger Tour can provide the catalyst for his charge to qualify for the inaugural #NextGenATP Finals.

The tournament, to take place 7-11 November, will feature the world’s top seven plus one wild card 21-and-under singles players just a few hours drive from where Quinzi grew up in Cittadella, Padua.

“It’s a big goal for me, especially because it is in Italy. Milan is amazing. I hope I can play, but for now it is just a dream,” revealed Quinzi. “I would be so happy to qualify, it’s near my city and would be in front of home support. All the crowd would be with me! It’s unbelievable as I didn’t expect it to be in Italy, which makes it 10 times better.”

Quinzi is No. 252 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and is targeting the Top 200 as a successful campaign. However, he is realistic regarding the task ahead.

“Last year I played well on the ATP Challenger Tour, especially in Italy, making the Cordenons semi-finals (l. Daniel), but the level now is getting harder,” added Quinzi. “I have only played one ATP World Tour tournament, in Marrakech, and the level was obviously much higher.

“You have to be ready to train every day, to be focused on every tournament, every game, every point, because you have very good guys who are also competing week in and week out like this.”

In order to fulfil his goals, Quinzi is aware all aspects on and off the court have to be improved and adjusted.

“In my game I can work on everything every day, but I’d like to learn to play more aggressively,” said Quinzi. “Physically you have to be strong and learn how to recover from playing. Mentally you have to be strong, you must train for your matches so that you believe you can beat players with a better ranking, so you don’t get down in these harder matches. All areas you have to be strong.”