Top seed David Goffin made a strong start at his home tournament’s inaugural event with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Florian Mayer on Thursday at the European Open. Goffin stands at No. 10 in the Emirates ATP Race To London and looks to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for the first time.
David GOFFIN
© Vincent Van Doornick / IMAGELLAN
The 25-year-old Belgian capitalised on five of his nine break point chances in the 74-minute match as he advanced to the quarter-finals, where he will face qualifier Marius Copil. The Romanian advanced to the last eight with a 7-6(3), 6-2 win over home hope Steve Darcis.
NextGen star Kyle Edmund, who is at a career-high No. 43 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, continued his banner year with an upset over second seed David Ferrer. The 21-year-old Brit saved seven of 11 break points faced in his victory over the Spaniard, which took just over two hours. He next faces Italian Andreas Seppi as he bids for a first ATP World Tour semi-final.
Jan-Lennard Struff, who won the title at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Mons two weeks ago, ousted fifth seed Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-4. In his second quarter-final this season (also Kitzbuhel), Struff will face third seed Richard Gasquet.
Diego Schwartzman got the better of NextGen star Taylor Fritz, winning 6-4, 6-4 in 72 minutes for a quarter-final clash against fourth seed Pablo Cuevas.
Top Doubles Seed Advances
Barclays ATP World Tour Finals qualifiers Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut advanced to the semi-finals with a 6-7(4), 6-4, 10-5 win over Federico Delbonis and Diego Schwartzman. They will challenge Dominic Inglot and Andre Sa, 7-5, 3-6, 11-9 winners over Pablo Cuevas and David Marrero.
Third seeds Oliver Marach and Fabrice Martin defeated Nicholas Monroe and Artem Sitak 6-0, 6-4 to set a semi-final meeting with second seeds Daniel Nestor and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.