Cuevas, Kohlschreiber Advance To Hamburg QFs

Pablo Cuevas reached the quarter-finals of the German Tennis Championships 2016 on Wednesday with a 6-2, 6-3 win against Brazilian Thiago Monteiro. Cuevas, the third seed, won 85 per cent of his serve points (33/39) and erased his only break point faced.

The 30-year-old Uruguayan earned four breaks against the 22-year-old qualifier. Monteiro also had to serve almost more than double the number of points – 69 – than Cuevas – 39.

“I played so good today,” Cuevas said. “He’s a good player.”

Cuevas, No. 24 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, has had good luck this season when beating Monteiro in a tournament. He beat the left-hander at Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo in February, and both times, Cuevas went on to win the tournaments. The 30 year old has won five ATP World Tour titles, all on clay. He next will face Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu, who outlasted Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-5 in two hours and 49 minutes. Mathieu saved 11 of 14 break points faced, including all seven in the second set.

Home favourite Philipp Kohlschreiber overcame a slow start to move into the quarter-finals. The top seed dispatched Argentine Nicolas Kicker 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in one hour and 51 minutes. The top German was broken twice in the first set but only once in the remaining two sets.

Kohlschreiber, No. 22 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, is vying to become the first German winner in Hamburg since current tournament director Michael Stich in 1993. Five of Kohlschreiber’s seven ATP World Tour titles have come in Germany, including the BMW Open by FWU AG in May (d. Thiem).

Kohlschreiber next will face Argentine Renzo Olivo, who swept compatriot Maximo Gonzalez 6-3, 6-4. The 24-year-old Olivo, No. 153 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, erased all three break points to reach the quarter-finals of an ATP World Tour 500 event for the first time.