Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun on Wednesday defeated Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman in straight sets 6-4, 6-0 to reach the quarter-finals of the ATP Tour’s Winston-Salem Open.
Lu, who is into his fourth consecutive Winston-Salem quarter-final, fired nine aces and did not face a break point in the 62-minute match in North Carolina.
“Fortunately I played really well on game points and on break points,” Lu was quoted as saying on the ATP Web site. “My serve was there when I needed it, and that helped me a lot today. I always seem to play very relaxed, very freely here. Maybe it is something that is missing for me in other tournaments, but I am able to find that feeling here.”
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
Lu next faces second-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain, who defeated Cyprus’ Marcos Baghdatis 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Top-seeded Richard Gasquet advanced to the quarter-finals with a 6-1, 6-3 win over French compatriot Stephane Robert.
Gasquet saved seven of eight break points and broke the unseeded Robert’s serve five times.
“I have known Stephane for a long time now, so I know how dangerous he can be,” Gasquet said.
“He likes to play close to the baseline. We have practiced together often, so I know his game and he knows mine. I did not make many mistakes today, and that was the difference.”
Gasquet next faces Australia’s John Millman, who came from behind to win 5-7, 6-0, 6-3 against wild card Bjorn Fratangelo.
Fifteenth-seeded Fernando Verdasco fired 10 aces as he rolled over the US’ Steve Johnson 6-4, 7-6 (9/7).
In the quarter-finals, Verdasco faces Serbia’s Viktor Troicki, who toppled the US’ Sam Querrey 6-2, 7-6 (7/5).
Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia advanced when Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic retired at 5-5 in the first set.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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