Top seeds Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer booked their place in the MercedesCup quarter-finals on Wednesday, defeating John Millman and Guido Pella 7-6(3), 6-4 in Stuttgart.

Qureshi and Rojer won 53 per cent of return points and broke serve on three occasions to advance after 74 minutes. The Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell finalists headed into Stuttgart on a three-match losing streak after their final loss in Catalonia and back-to-back opening-match defeats at the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open and Roland Garros.

Qureshi and Rojer will face Nick Kyrgios and Jackson Withrow for a spot in the semi-finals. The Australian-American duo defeated German wild cards Matthias Bachinger and Yannick Maden 7-5, 7-6(7).

Third seeds Max Mirnyi and Philipp Oswald took just 65 minutes to win their first-round clash against Hugo Nys and Denis Shapovalov 7-5, 6-3. Mirnyi and Oswald won 85 per cent of first-serve points (34/40) to confirm a quarter-final clash with Robert Lindstedt and Marcin Matkowski.

Inglot/Skugor Reach Semi-finals
Gazprom Hungarian Open champions Dominic Inglot and Franko Skugor scored another straight-sets victory in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, defeating Fabrice Martin and Purav Raja 7-6(6), 7-5.

The British-Croatian duo advanced after 89 minutes, saving all five break points they faced in a tense quarter-final encounter. Inglot and Skugor had lost their past two matches prior to entering the tournament, but have refound the level that saw them lift their first team title in the Hungarian capital in April.

Inglot and Skugor will meet top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo or Dutch duo Sander Arends and Matwe Middelkoop for a place in the championship match.

Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus ended the challenge of Alex Bolt and Lleyton Hewitt 7-5, 7-5. The Open 13 Provence titlists won 63 per cent of points behind their second serves and converted five of six break points to overcome the Australian duo in 74 minutes.

Klaasen and Venus will meet Matthew Ebden and Malek Jaziri in the quarter-finals. The unseeded pairing edged America’s Jamie Cerretani and Antonio Sancic of Croatia 5-7, 6-3, 10-4.

Did You Know?
Only one team has ever successfully defended their title at the MercedesCup or the Libema Open. Colin Dowdeswell and Frew McMillan are the only back-to-back Stuttgart titlists (1979-1980), while Martin Damm and Cyril Suk stand alone in ‘s-Hertogenbosch with three consecutive triumphs (2002-2004).

Lucas Pouille improved to 5-1 at the MercedesCup in Stuttgart on Wednesday as the Frenchman advanced past #NextGenATP German Rudolf Molleker 6-3, 6-4. The second seed hit 10 aces and dropped only five points on his first serve (31/36) in the 49-minute victory.

Pouille became the fifth active Frenchman to crack the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings on 19 March, but the 24-year-old hadn’t reached a quarter-final since the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, where Pouille reached the final on 3 March. He won the 2017 Stuttgart title, beating Spaniard Feliciano Lopez for his first grass-court crown. In the Stuttgart quarter-finals, Pouille will face Ubzekistan’s Denis Istomin. Molleker, 17, celebrated his first tour-level win on Monday.

Read & Watch: Molleker, 17, Celebrates Maiden Tour-Level Win

Germany’s Maximilian Marterer continued his strong run of form, coming from a set down to beat lucky loser Viktor Galovic 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. Marterer saved five of six break points as he notched his 15th tour-level victory of the season after one hour and 34 minutes. The German is competing at a career high No. 50 in the ATP Rankings after reaching the Round of 16 at Roland Garros (l. to Nadal).

The 22-year-old will meet Nick Kyrgios for a quarter-final spot. The Australian has not played a singles match on the ATP World Tour since his quarter-final loss to Ivo Karlovic at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship in April.

Prajnesh Gunneswaran, competing in just his fourth tour-level match, produced a big upset to defeat #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov 7-6(6), 2-6, 6-3. Gunneswaran, ranked No. 169, twice recovered from a break down to take a one-set lead before securing victory, on his fifth match point, after one hour and 49 minutes. The Indian qualifier will face Argentina’s Guido Pella for a spot in the quarter-finals.

Seventh seed Milos Raonic saved two set points in the first set before safely progressing to the second round, beating fellow Stuttgart debutant Mirza Basic 7-6(8), 6-2.

The Canadian fired 15 aces and only lost one point behind his first serve to move past the Diema Xtra Sofia Open champion in 83 minutes. Raonic will meet Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open titlist Marton Fucsovics in the second round.

Watch Highlights: Home Favourite Marterer Comes Back

Benoit Paire also progressed to the second round, beating #NextGenATP American Taylor Fritz 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-2. The Frenchman hit 15 aces and converted five of eight break point chances.

Did You Know?
Lucas Pouille is looking to become just the second man in MercedesCup history to successfully defend his title. The only man to ever retain his title in Stuttgart is Austria’s Thomas Muster (1995-1996).

Roger Federer showed some rust but the Swiss legend ultimately settled enough into his first match in nearly three months to advance on Wednesday at the MercedesCup in Stuttgart.

The No. 2 player in the ATP Rankings came back to beat home favourite Mischa Zverev 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in front of, as customary, a pro-Federer crowd.

“Three months is a long time, it’s longer than the year-end break. So I’m very happy returning on good terms onto the Tour,” Federer said. “It was difficult, missed some chances maybe in the first set… He connected well at the right times.

“And then I found a way, I found my rhythm… I’m very happy with how I played. I’m super happy to be back on Tour. It’s been a great start.”

Federer can reclaim the No. 1 ATP Ranking from long-time rival Rafael Nadal with a run to the championship match in Stuttgart. The 36-year-old lost to Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis on 24 March during his opening match at the Miami Open presented by Itau before skipping the entire European clay-court swing for the second year in a row.

But the Swiss has long favoured the grass. Seventeen – nine at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle and eight at Wimbledon – of Federer’s 97 tour-level titles have come on the surface, and he’s won 87 per cent (165/189) of his grass-court matches.

Zverev, though, covered the net well and landed enough first serves to take advantage of a slow start from the Swiss. Federer had four break chances during Zverev’s first three service games, but the German erased them all and then broke Federer to love in the eighth game. The German had never won a set against Federer in their five prior FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings, including three on grass, but he clinched the opener with a drop volley.

But Federer cranked it up a level in the second set, twice breaking Zverev to force the decider. Federer began to pick apart the lefty’s serve-and-volley tactics even more in the third set, breaking again the fourth and eighth games.

“It feels good to win again. I’ve lost my last two matches,” said Federer, who lost to Juan Martin del Potro in the Indian Wells final before playing in Miami. “It’s nice to get a fresh start here.”

The top seed had fallen to Tommy Haas in his Stuttgart opener last year. Federer will next meet Argentine Guido Pella or Indian Prajnesh Gunneswaran.