Bratislava: There were no major shocks here, but fans were treated to some high stakes tennis nonetheless. The best match was easily Lukas Lacko’s clutch win over young Russian Andrey Rublev, with Lacko edging through 6-7, 7-6, 6-4. Eighth seed Edouard Roger-Vasselin ended Mikhail Youzhny’s run of Challenger wins, with a 6-4, 7-6 victory. Illya Marchenko and Norbert Gombos completed routine wins to take their places in the quarter-finals.
Friday: Illya Marchenko vs Radek Stepanek – Stepanek has coasted through to the quarter-finals meaning this has the hallmarks of a close encounter.
Mouilleron Le Captif: Lucas Pouille and Marcel Granollers found their credentials under stiff examination, as they were both forced to dig out three set wins. Pouille recovered from the loss of the first set to beat French journeyman David Guez 4-6, 7-6, 6-3, and Granollers finished on a high, defeating Jan Mertl 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. Sergiy Stakhovsky, Teymuraz Gabashvili, and Paul-Henri Mathieu all recorded comfortable wins. Karen Khachanov defeated a higher ranked opponent for the second time this week. His victim today was eighth seed Marsel Ilhan, beaten 6-4, 6-1.
Friday: Karen Khachanov vs Adrian Mannarino – Khachanov has already upset Bemelmans and Ilhan. Mannarino will need to be on form to win against the big-server.
Ortisei: The pick of the action was undoubtedly Rajeev Ram’s comeback from the brink, as the American saved match points in defeating local wildcard Lorenzo Sonego 6-7, 7-6, 6-4. There were easy wins for Evgeny Donskoy and Luca Vanni, but Andrea Arnaboldi was beaten 6-4, 6-4 by Marton Fucsovics.
Friday: Luca Vanni vs Rajeev Ram – both are in desperate need of a good run to put themselves in position to earn direct entry to the Australian Open, and there are few events left in the year.
Buenos Aires: Rain washed out most play, but there was time for Hans Podlipnik-Castillo to surprise Gastao Elias, and for Maximo Gonzalez to outlast Andrea Collarini 5-7, 6-2, 7-5.
Friday: Kyle Edmund vs Hans Podlipnik-Castillo – all eyes on Edmund ahead of the Davis Cup Final.
Kobe: Yoshihito Nishioka trounced Yuchi Ito 6-1, 6-0,but things weren’t so easy for eighth seed Brydan Klein, as he fell to Yan Bai 6-4, 6-4. French veteran Stephane Robert progressed, as did third seed Go Soeda.
Friday: John Millman vs Yan Bai – Bai upset Klein, but Millman is a step up.
Knoxville: Tim Smyczek suffered a blow to his attempts to qualify for the Australian Open directly, as he fell to Jared Donaldson 7-5, 7-6. Second seed Austin Krajicek faired little better, falling to Dan Evans 6-3, 6-2. James Duckworth got things back on track for the seeds, though he needed three sets against Sekou Bangoura. Francis Tiafoe beat Blaz Kavcic, and Dennis Novikov defeated Stefan Kozlov.
