Thiem Takes All-Austrian Battle In Kitzbuhel

Top seed Dominic Thiem breezed through to the Generali Open quarter-finals in Kitzbuhel on Wednesday, beating countryman Sebastian Ofner 6-3, 6-2. Thiem, who’s seeking his first Kitzbuhel title (2014 finalist), won 80 per cent (28/35) of his first-serve points and will next meet Spain’s Pablo Andujar, who beat home favourite Philipp Kohlschreiber, a Kitzbuhel resident, 6-4, 6-4.

Frenchman Jeremy Chardy reached his third consecutive quarter-final on clay, upsetting second seed and Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag champion Dusan Lajovic 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Chardy made the last eight at the Bastad Swedish Open and the Hamburg European Open. Both times the French veteran fell to the eventual champion in the quarter-finals: Nicolas Jarry in Bastad and Nikoloz Basilashvili in Hamburg.

Chardy will next face Gstaad champion Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who dismissed 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals semi-finalist Jaume Munar 6-2, 6-3.

In other action, Norway’s #NextGenATP star Casper Ruud will face fourth seed Pablo Cuevas for a place in the semi-finals. Ruud held off German qualifier Matthias Bachinger 6-4, 7-6(3), and Cuevas, a six-time ATP Tour clay-court titlist, dropped only two games in the final two sets, advancing 6-7(1), 6-0, 6-2.

Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco, the third seed, beat Slovakian Jozef Kovalik 6-4, 7-6(7) and will meet seventh-seeded Lorenzo Sonego of Italy. Sonego, the Turkish Airlines Open Antalya champion, beat last year’s Ecuador Open champion Roberto Carballes Baena 2-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(1).