Top-seeded Romanians Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau edged Marcus Daniell and Artem Sitak 7-6(3), 7-6(5) in their opening match at the BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy on Thursday. Mergea/Tecau saved three break points and advanced in 92 minutes despite winning three fewer points (72-75).

Second seeds Eric Butorac and Scott Lipsky were not as fortunate. The Americans fell 2-6, 6-2, 18-16 to Chris Guccione and Andre Sa in the quarter-finals. Butorac/Lipsky held seven match points in the Match Tie-break but saw their opponents convert on their fourth to take the win. Next up for Guccione/Sa will be fourth seeds Jonathan Erlich and Colin Fleming, who saved nine break points (9/13) to edge Guido Pella and Lukas Rosol 2-6, 6-4, 10-6.

Huey/Mirnyi Win In Barcelona

Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi defeated fourth seeds Rohan Bopanna and Jean-Julien Rojer 7-6(5), 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the Barcelona Open BancSabadell on Thursday. Huey/Mirnyi landed 85 per cent of first serves and saved four break points in the 71-minute win. They will face Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan in the final four.

All it can take is one good tournament to launch your career: just ask Thiago Monteiro.

The 21-year-old Brazilian took a wild card this February into the ATP World Tour 500 event in his hometown of Rio de Janeiro. Ranked No. 338, Monteiro recorded the biggest upset of the year so far by upsetting world No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the opening round.

The Top 10 victory gave Monteiro an extra boost that has translated into solid results on the ATP Challenger Tour, including a semi-final showing last month at the $50,000 event in Santiago and a quarter-final finish at the $100,000 event in Le Gosier. At this week’s $50,000 event in Sao Paulo, he’s breezed through his first two matches without dropping a set.

“It was an amazing victory. The support of the crowd and my team was unbelievable,” said Monteiro of his victory over Tsonga. “It gave me a lot confidence in my game and motivation to keep improving every day with my team and looking for good results.”

Since the start of the year, Monteiro has shot from No. 463 in the Emirates ATP Rankings to his current standing of No. 201. His two wins this week in Sao Paulo have also ensured that he will reach a new career-high ranking next week.

Monteiro also credited his pre-season with taking his game to a new level in 2016. He spent several weeks training with Brazilian No. 1 Thomaz Bellucci, which he said was an eye-opening experience.

“To see how a guy who is ranked No. 35 practises and his level of intensity helped me learn a lot,” said Monteiro. “I was working hard every day and that gave me a lot of confidence. “Now my job is to keep the results of this work and keep improving.”

The Brazilian’s strong results this year have also ensured he will make his Grand Slam debut next month in the qualifying rounds of Roland Garros. Monteiro said he has planned his ATP Challenger Tour schedule for the next few weeks in hopes of peaking on the red clay in Paris, but has even loftier goals for the coming months.

“Qualifying for the main draw of a Grand Slam is one of my dreams, so I’m practising for that moment now,” said Monteiro. “The Olympics (held this year in Rio de Janeiro) would be very difficult to qualify for, but it’s possible and that would also be one of my dreams since I was a kid. The main thing for me is to keep working hard on the court. I want this year to be the best of my career.”

It was a slight scramble to the finish line, but two-time defending champion Kei Nishikori is through to the quarter-finals of the Barcelona Open BancSabadell after defeating Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 7-5 on Thursday.

The second seed failed to close out the match when he served at 5-4 in the second set, but broke Chardy again in the 11^th game before sealing victory at the second time of asking, converting his second match point in 84 minutes.

Nishikori has won his past 12 matches at this ATP World Tour 500 clay-court tournament, clinching back-to-back titles in 2014 (d. Giraldo) and 2015 (d. Andujar). The 26 year old has a 17-3 tournament record and goes on to face Alexandr Dolgopolov, who ended the run of qualifier Karen Khachanov with a 6-4, 7-5 victory.

Nishikori is playing his first clay-court tournament of the season and is coming off a runner-up showing at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Miami (l. to Djokovic). The right-hander is 21-6 this season, winning his 11^th ATP World Tour title in Memphis (d. Fritz).

Sixth seed Benoit Paire cruised into the last eight with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Pablo Cuevas in just under an hour. The Frenchman set a quarter-final clash with Malek Jaziri, who defeated #NextGen star Alexander Zverev 7-6(5), 6-4. 

Filippo Volandri has plenty on his plate these days. Not only is he working hard to make another push back into the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, but the 34-year-old is getting his feet wet as a rookie in the broadcasting booth.

After reaching the quarter-finals earlier this month at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Barletta, Volandri drove 800 kilometres to play in the qualifying of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Monte-Carlo. Once his time on the court was done, Volandri spent the week calling matches for Sky TV in Italy.

“It’s a strange thing because I’m still a professional player,” admitted Volandri. “I still want to play all the tournaments, but I also have the opportunity to commentate for a few tournaments and do a few interviews with the players. I’m turning 35 this year, so I hope this is my future after my playing career.”

It’s back to tennis this week for Volandri, though. He advanced to the quarter-finals on Wednesday at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Turin, where he upset No. 4 seed Stephane Robert in the second round. Now fully recovered from an abdominal strain he suffered in February, Volandri is hoping to play more Challengers close to home as he continues to make a climb up the rankings.

“I’ve been trying to play more on clay because all of my good results have come on this surface,” he said. “And I love to play the tournaments in Italy because people come to watch me play.”

Plenty of people have watched Volandri play over his 19-year career, which has seen him reach a career-high Emirates ATP Ranking of No. 25 back in July 2007. There have been several highlights over the years that include winning two ATP World Tour titles and 12 ATP Challenger Tour titles.

But for Volandri, his proudest moment was his upset victory in 2007 over Roger Federer at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome. Having needed a wild card just to enter the main draw, Volandri played one of the best matches of his career to secure the straight-sets win. Afterwards, he did a victory lap around Centre Court and high-fived spectators in the audience.

“He was No. 1 in the world at the time and I was playing at home, so it was amazing for me,” said Volandri. “That was probably the best week of my career.”

Volandri will head back to Rome next month as both a player and commentator. He wants to get his ranking high enough to compete in the main draw of the Grand Slams again, but said he’s also happy competing on the ATP Challenger Tour for now and having the chance to still do something he loves.

“Tennis is now a passion for me instead of work. I don’t have to keep doing this. I do it because I love to play,” said Volandri. “There’s no pressure for me because I’ve had a good career, so I just want to go on court and enjoy it.”

Lucas Pouille upset second seed Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy on Thursday. The 22-year-old Frenchman had never previously faced the 6’11” Karlovic at tour-level, but read the Croat’s serve well and prevailed in one hour.

“I’m happy with this second round,” Pouille said. “It was a good match, in line with how I played on Tuesday. I tried to be solid, to do simple things, and it worked well.

“I was able to return well and to put the ball back in the court, which against Ivo is key. I think I can serve better. There are a few details I need to work on. Also, as it is the beginning of the season on clay, I feel I can improve many aspects of my game.”

Third seed Federico Delbonis landed 70 per cent of first serves and overcame unseeded Illya Marchenko 7-5, 6-2 in the second round. The Argentine dropped serve twice but broke the Ukrainian five times in the pair’s first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting.

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez downed Next Generation player Kyle Edmund 6-3, 6-3 to advance to the quarter-finals. The 32 year old, seeded fourth, did not face a break point and broke Edmund three times (3/12) to advance in 81 minutes.

“He didn’t have chances to break because I served very well. It is the kind of match you always want to have,” Garcia-Lopez said. “I didn’t let him find his rhythm, I was mixing the game with slices and high balls, being aggressive at times. This made him feel uncomfortable.”

The Spaniard will face Guido Pella, a 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 winner over Daniel Gimeno-Traver, in the next round.

“Against Pella, it will be difficult mentally and physically. He’s left-handed, which is tricky for a right-handed player with a one-handed backhand. He plays very well. Whoever is stronger mentally will win this match,” noted Garcia-Lopez.

Paolo Lorenzi was another veteran firing on all cylinders in the second round, dismissing youngster Taro Daniel 6-2, 6-0 in 75 minutes. The Italian dictated with his return, winning 30 of 54 points on Daniel’s serve.

#NextGen star Alexander ‘Sascha’ Zverev chats to ATPWorldTour.com in Barcelona to reminisce about an epic journey Down Under, meeting one of the most famous footballers in the world and his shortcomings in the kitchen…

I had a travel drama?
Australia this year. I was on a flight that was overbooked, so they put me on another airline. I had been booked in business class so they gave me another business class ticket, everything was fine. But that other airline was delayed by four hours, so I arrived in Dubai late and missed my connection. Then I had to wait 24 hours for another flight. Then went to Paris and missed my connection again. Then I had to buy myself a new ticket to get to my destination!

I lost something important?
I lose my phone all the time, but luckily someone else always finds it. I just leave it somewhere, on the court, and somebody always picks it up.

I strung a tennis racquet?
Never! I know how to, but I can’t remember the last time I did it.

I cooked for myself and others?
That has never happened either! I do not know how to cook.

I met a childhood idol?
I met David Beckham in London in November. Obviously he had no clue who I was, but luckily I was at the ATP Star of Tomorrow presentation at The O2, so I took a quick picture with him.

I shared a hotel room with another player?
That was actually at the ATP University in London in November. I shared a hotel room with Elias Ymer. It was all right! We didn’t spend much time in the hotel room.

I cried at a movie?
I don’t do that… And if I do, I won’t admit it, ever!