Defending champion Alexander Zverev had to dig deep to win his second-round match at the ATP tournament in Munich on Wednesday after a scare against fellow German Yannick Hanfmann.
The 26-year-old Hanfmann, ranked 118th in the world, took the first set, which lasted an hour, in a marathon tie-break before Zverev clawed his way back for a 6-7 (12/14), 6-4, 6-2 victory.
The 21-year-old Zverev, ranked third in the world, will now face his Davis Cup team-mate Jan-Lennard Struff in Friday’s quarter-finals.
A potential opponent in the last four is Australian Open semi-finalist Hyeon Chung, who cruised into the quarter-finals with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Germany’s Matthias Bachinger.
Chung, 21, lost only three first-service points, needing less than an hour to record his 19th win this season.
The South Korean had no problems, saving all five break points he faced and converting five of his seven break opportunities.
In the quarter-finals, Chung will play Martin Klizan, the 2014 Munich champion.
The Slovakian qualifier recovered from 3-0 down in the deciding set to beat Bosnian Mirza Basic 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in just over two hours in his second-round tie.
Britain’s Edmund dismisses De Minaur in Estoril
Britain’s Kyle Edmund knocked out Australian teenager Alex de Minaur with a 6-2, 7-5 win to reach the quarter-finals of the Estoril Open on Wednesday.
De Minaur is based in Spain and clay is his favoured surface but he had few answers as Australian Open semi-finalist Edmund advanced in 97 minutes.
Edmund, ranked a career-high 23rd, achieved his best Estoril showing after losing in the second round last year to Benoit Paire.
“I felt really good with how I played throughout,” the third seed said. “I faced a tough opponent, who is very resilient.
“He didn’t give away a lot of points, I had to work for this win. But I enjoyed winning a tough test, delivering in a pressure match.
“I’ve trained with Alex. I know he has a difficult game. He likes to counter-attack and use the pace to deflect.
“I knew how the match would go. I had to execute and impose my game to win it.”
The Briton will next tackle Portuguese number one Joao Sousa, who needed two and a half hours to knock out namesake and compatriot Pedro Sousa with a 4-6, 7-6 (7/1), 7-5 win.
Edmund broke De Minaur five times as he played for the first time since a first-round loss in Monte Carlo.
De Minaur, 19, is still alive in the doubles alongside his 37-year-old Davis Cupcaptain Lleyton Hewitt.
The field in Portugal is headed by US Open runner-up Kevin Anderson, with the South African to start his campaign on Thursday against Greek rising star Stefanos Tsitsipas, the losing finalist last weekend to Rafael Nadal in Barcelona.
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