Maximilian Marterer notched his first victory at the Generali Open on Tuesday, beating Jurgen Zopp 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. The 23-year-old German fired 11 aces and saved six of seven break points to advance after two hours.
Marterer improved to 17-15 at tour-level this season and increased his FedEx ATP Head2Head lead over the Estonian to 2-0. Zopp entered Kitzbuehel in fine form, having reached his first tour-level semi-final from qualifying last week at the J. Safra Sarasin Swiss Open Gstaad (l. to Berrettini).
Marterer will face Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin for a spot in the quarter-finals. Kukushkin came from a set down to beat #NextGenATP Frenchman Corentin Moutet 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Monday.
Gstaad champion Matteo Berrettini extended his unbeaten streak to six, beating fifth seed Gilles Simon of France 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. The 22-year-old Italian broke Simon three times and advanced after one hour, 55 minutes. Berrettini will next face Radu Albot of Moldova, who beat Slovakian Jozef Kovalik 6-1, 6-3.
Taro Daniel needed just 78 minutes to eliminate seventh seed Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6(3), 6-1. The TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open titlist won 86 per cent of first-serve points and did not face a break point en route to victory.
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Daniel will meet Laslo Djere in the second round. Djere, who reached the semi-finals in Gstaad last week, beat newly-crowned Hamburg champion Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-3, 6-3.
Hamburg semi-finalist Nicolas Jarry continued his solid run of form, beating Ecuador Open winner Roberto Carballes Baena 7-6(3), 6-7(5), 6-4. The Chilean will play third seed Fernando Verdasco for a spot in the last eight.
Did You Know?
Top seed Dominic Thiem is bidding to become the second Austrian to win the Generali Open. In 1993, Thomas Muster became the first Austrian champion in Kitzbuehel, beating Javier Sanchez in straight sets.
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