Berankis, Vesely Advance To Pune QFs

Second seed Ricardas Berankis recovered from a slow start, saving two set points at 4-5 in the first set, before beating Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 7-6(2), 6-1 in one hour and 42 minutes on Wednesday for a place in the Tata Open Maharashtra quarter-finals. He’ll next challenge fifth seed Yuichi Sugita, who advanced without hitting a ball when qualifier Viktor Troicki pulled out due to a fever.

Jiri Vesely battled hard to overcome seventh seed Salvatore Caruso 7-6(5), 6-4 in one hour and 51 minutes. He awaits the winner of third seed Stefano Travaglia and Ilya Ivashka in the last eight.

In first-round action, Taro Daniel, the winner of an ATP Challenger Tour title in Burnie (d. Hanfmann) on Sunday, knocked out wild card Sasikumar Mukund 6-2, 7-6(7) in one hour and 40 minutes. He will next challenge sixth seed James Duckworth.