Vesely Fights On In Marrakech

Jiri Vesely had to battle for more than three hours on Thursday to reach the Grand Prix Hassan II quarter-finals.

The eighth seed recorded just his third match win of the season by overcoming qualifier Nikola Mektic 6-7(4), 6-3, 7-6(5). Vesely hit 15 aces to Mektic’s 10.

“It was a tough match today,” said Vesely. “I didn’t play with a lot of confidence because I only won one match before the beginning of this tournament. I’m very happy about this victory. I kept fighting and never gave up. It was a very important win for me.”

Vesely will next play top seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who broke a three-match losing streak against Nicolas Almagro in a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory. Garcia-Lopez won the 2014 title (d. Granollers) when the ATP World Tour 250 tournament was played in Casablanca.

Seventh seed Pablo Carreno Busta lost just five of his first service points in a 6-3, 7-6(5) win over Denis Istomin.