German qualifier Mischa Zverev advanced to the quarter-finals of the Valencia Open by beating fourth seed Fabio Fognini 6-2, 7-6 (7/3) on Thursday.
Zverev, who was treated for a leg injury in the second set, took advantage of a series of unforced errors in the first set to take the lead.
“On this surface, the serve is really important and I served badly today, and with my forehand I was doing nothing, making a lot of mistakes,” Fognini said.
Another German qualifier, Daniel Brands, also reached the quarter-finals, beating Albert Montanes 6-2, 6-2.
Montanes entered the tournament after top seed David Ferrer withdrew with an elbow injury.
Later, two more seeded players were eliminated when second seed Feliciano Lopez lost to Steve Johnson 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) and fifth seed Benoit Paire lost to Joao Sousa 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
Johnson served for the match at 5-4, but the left-handed Lopez forced the tiebreaker.
“Couldn’t close the door at 5-4 in the second, but I got it done in the breaker,” said Johnson, an American who lost Ferrer in the final in Vienna last week. “I’ve played a couple of lefties here, got into a good rhythm before playing a big server like Feliciano. Was glad to get through day 1 and happy to get through day 2.”
Seventh seed Roberto Bautista Agut became the last player into the last eight after a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Russian wild-card Andrey Rublev.
He was next due to face Fognini’s conqueror, Zverev.
“Tomorrow [Firday], I have a difficult match,” Bautista Agut said. “For sure he is playing really well to be in the quarter-finals, to beat Fognini, so I will have to play very well again to be in the semi-finals.”
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