Seeds Frances Tiafoe, Hubert Hurkacz, Lorenzo Musetti move into Stuttgart quarterfinals
In 's-Hertogenbosch, Jannik Sinner sailed past Alexander Bublik to line up a last-eight meeting with Emil Ruusuvuori.
The three seeded players in action at Stuttgart’s Boss Open Wednesday all successfully advanced to the quarterfinals of the ATP 250 event.
Third seed Frances Tiafoe defeated Jiri Lehecka, 7-6 (2), 6-4, to close out play. After converting the first break of the contest to put the match on his racquet, Tiafoe staved off a pair of break points to shut the door on his 21-year-old opponent after 77 minutes.
The American, who is aiming to reach his first ATP grass-court final this week, will next meet Lorenzo Musetti. The sixth seed dispatched Gregoire Barrere, 6-3, 6-3, compiling 28 winners to just 10 unforced errors.
Earlier in the day, No. 4 seed Hubert Hurkacz survived a stiff challenge from Yosuke Watanuki. Two points from defeat in a second set tie-break, Hurkacz found a way to win. Despite being unable to break the Japanese qualifier and being out-aced 27 to 21, the Pole eked out a 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) victory.
In 's-Hertogenbosch, seeds were less fortunate. Though second-seeded Jannik Sinner cruised past Alexander Bublik, 6-4, 6-2, the same couldn’t be said for No. 3 seed Borna Coric and No. 7 seed Ugo Humbert.
Coric was sent packing, 6-4, 6-4, by Mackenzie McDonald, while Humbert was eliminated when Emil Ruusuvuori held on for a 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-4 win. Ruusuvuori lined up a quarterfinal meeting with Sinner, who improved to 3-0 against Bublik.