#NextGen stars Borna Coric and Nick Kyrgios are on a collision course at the Millennium Estoril Open after both won their second-round matches on Wednesday. Coric, the sixth seed, took out Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, while the second-seeded Kyrgios overcame Inigo Cervantes 7-6(4), 7-5.

Coric, No. 40 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, overcame the loss of the second set to defeat his Brazilian opponent in two hours and eight minutes. The 19 year old improved to 13-11 on the year.

“In the first set I was playing high to his backhand, and it worked perfectly,” Coric said. “In the second set, I was a bit more defensive and he surprised me with his good play. I didn’t feel like I could hurt him.

“[Adjusting] my court position was key. Automatically my shots became more aggressive when I stepped in. In the third set, I was more offensive.”

Nick Kyrgios, who turned 21 on Wednesday, gave himself the gift of a quarter-final berth in Estoril with a straight-set win over Spaniard Cervantes in the pair’s first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting. The 2015 finalist served well, landing 75 per cent of first serves and hitting nine aces.

After the match, he was surprised by tournaments organizers, who brought out a cake and showed a tribute video featuring several close friends. “It’s one of the best presents I’ve ever received,” Kyrgios said.

“It will be an enjoyable match for sure,” said Coric of the upcoming clash against the World No. 20. “[Kyrgios] is the favourite so I have nothing to lose. But I’ll never come into a match with the mindset that I can’t win. I’ll do my best but I’ll be there to win.”

“It’s going to be a tough match,” Kyrgios said. “[Coric] has been playing well.”

Britain’s Kyle Edmund, the other #NextGen player in the Estoril draw, was eliminated by Frenchman Benoit Paire 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3.

Home Team Advances In Doubles

Portuguese Gastao Elias and Joao Sousa made a winning start at their home tournament by downing Rogerio Dutra Silva and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 6-0 in under one hour. Elias/Sousa hit five aces and saved all three break points faced. In the quarter-finals, they will face top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcin Matkowski.

Second seeds Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi cruised to a 6-2, 6-3 victory against Italians Thomas Fabbiano and Paolo Lorenzi. Huey/Mirnyi, who teamed to win in Acapulco in February, improved to 17-7 on the year.

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BMW Open by FWU AG – Munich, Germany

The player party was a jam-packed affair with Dominic Thiem, Gael Monfils, David Goffin, Fabio Fognini, Thomaz Bellucci, Lukas Rosol, Ivan Dodig, Malek Jaziri, Dustin Brown, Alexander Peya, Neal Skupski, Ken Skupski and many more stars in attendance. German comedian Oliver Pocher hosted the event and presented Philipp Kohlschreiber with the Iphitos Award.

Juan Martin del Potro attended a meet-and-greet at the Emirates Suite to post for photos and sign autographs.

Bellucci, Marcelo Melo, Dodig, Victor Estrella Burgos, Denis Istomin, Mikhail Kukushkin, Oliver Marach and Jan-Lennard Struff participated in a pro-am with tournament sponsors. 

Alexander Zverev joined in on the fun at the pro-am dinner party for an interview on stage.

Mischa Zverev, Oliver Marach and Fabrice Martin participated in kids’ day activities, signing autographs and sitting in the hot seat for Q&A sessions.

Millennium Estoril Open – Estoril, Portugal

Borna Coric and Joao Sousa visited the Cascais Lighthouse and the historic Casa Santa Maria on the scenic coastline of Estoril. Watch Video

Sousa also joined Gilles Simon and Nick Kyrgios at the tournament’s launch party at the Forte da Cruz. Watch Video

Simon and Kyrgios got their need for speed when they visited the Autódromo do Estoril to test out some sport-tuned Peugeot cars with professional Portuguese drivers. Read & Watch

“It was very nice and the first time on a track like this,” said Simon. “It was really impressive how fast the professional drivers could go, especially on the bends and their breaking. At times you think you’re doing a U-turn. It’s a lot of stress if you’re not used to it, but I had a lot of confidence in the driver.”

Joao Sousa had the honour of meeting his country’s president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, when the dignitary visited the site to take in some tennis. Read more

Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi teamed up with two wheelchair tennis players for a doubles match on Stadium 3. Huey and Mirnyi also joined a number or ATP players, including Sousa, Rogerio Dutra Silva, Nicolas Almagro, Fred Gil, Leonardo Mayer and Borna Coric, in autograph sessions and sponsor meet-and-greets.

TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open – Istanbul, Turkey

Ivo Karlovic, Grigor Dimitrov, Jiri Vesely, Federico Delbonis, Andres Molteni, Diego Schwartzman, Guillermo Duran, Facundo Bagnis, Wesley Koolhof, Maximo Gonzalez and Adrian Ungur attended the tournament player party, taking a beautiful boat ride on the Bosphorus. View Photo

“I enjoyed the great views of the city and the beautiful sunset,” said Dimitrov. “It was nice to get to know a bit more about the city and see the beautiful houses by the coast.” 

Marcel Granollers and Roberto Carballes Baena visited the Peugeot booth to sign autographs and meet fans.

Grigor Dimitrov got his campaign at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open off to a winning start on Wednesday when the second seed defeated qualifier Adrian Ungur 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 in two hours and 14 minutes. He is now 16-8 on the year and next challenges sixth seed Jiri Vesely or Roberto Carballes Baena. Last year, Dimitrov reached the semi-finals (l. to Cuevas).

Federico Delbonis, the fourth seed, who is two spots off his career-high of No. 34 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, got the better of Dudi Sela 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 and now faces eighth seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the last eight. Ramos-Vinolas knocked out ATP Next Generation wild card Karen Khachanov 4-6, 6-1, 6-0.

Sofia Champions Fall In Doubles Opener

Fourth seeds Wesley Koolhof and Matwe Middelkoop, who picked up their first ATP World Tour title at Sofia (d. Oswald/Shamasdin) in February by winning all four of their matches in Match tie-breaks, lost in the first round. Carlos Berlocq and Teymuraz Gabashvili won 7-6(6), 6-7(5), 10-4.

Day Four Preview

It took Bernard Tomic only one week of the 2016 season to reach a career-high No. 17 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Since then, he has been the No. 1 seed at four ATP World Tour 250 events, including the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open. But life on top hasn’t been easy for the Aussie. He has yet to reach a semi-final as a No. 1 seed, posting his only two wins over players outside the Top 100. Tomic’s challenge will be tougher in Istanbul on Thursday as he meets Diego Schwartzman, who fell to No. 1 seed Roger Federer 26 62 75 in the 2015 Istanbul semi-finals.

Also inside Garanti Koza Arena, No. 3 seed Ivo Karlovic of Croatia faces Dusan Lajovic of Serbia. Karlovic has been stuck on 299 career wins since October, losing eight straight matches while struggling with a left knee injury. Thursday may be his lucky day as he enters with a 3-0 FedEx ATP Head 2 Head record against Lajovic, who is 0-6 lifetime against Croatian opponents.

In-form players open the action on Thursday when Illya Marchenko meets Damir Dzumhur. Marchenko has 10 wins on the season, his most since earning 18 in 2010. Dzumhur has a career-high 12 wins in 2016, highlighted by victories over No. 5 Rafael Nadal and No. 7 Tomas Berdych. Play concludes with No. 5 seed Marcel Granollers against Next Generation star Hyeon Chung.

Juan Martin del Potro scored his first win on clay in nearly three years at the BMW Open by FWU AG on Wednesday. The Tandil native won 7-6(2), 6-4 against German Dustin Brown and advanced to the second round. Del Potro’s previous clay court ATP World Tour event was Rome 2013, when he fell in the third round to Benoit Paire.

“I’m very happy to win my first match in three years on clay,” del Potro said. “I was quite nervous at the end of the match and didn’t serve as well as I did early in the match. He played better in the end too. But for the conditions, we played a nice match.

“I feel better. I am starting to hit my topspin backhand, which is what I need on this surface. I am looking forward to getting even better and hitting harder on my backhand.”

The Argentine landed 71 per cent of first serves and broke serve three times in the 82-minute win. He will face Jan-Lennard Struff in his next match. The German upset seventh seed Vasek Pospisil 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2. Del Potro last won consecutive tour-level matches on clay at Roland Garros in 2012 (l. to Federer in quarter-finals).

Third seed Dominic Thiem fired six aces in defeating Santiago Giraldo 7-5, 6-4. The Austrian saved three break points in the 93-minute second-round win and leveled the FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Giraldo at 1-1. The 22 year old will face Ivan Dodig, who beat sixth seed Thomaz Bellucci 7-6(5), 6-3, in the quarter-finals.

Fabio Fognini, the fifth seed and 2014 runner-up (l. to Klizan), required just 57 minutes to beat 20-year-old wild card Maximilian Marterer 6-3, 6-1  for a place in the second round.

Eighth seed Alexander Zverev, an ATP #NextGen player, saved 11 of 12 break points to knock out Malek Jaziri 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in two hours and 11 minutes in the first round.

Seeded Teams Cruise In Doubles

Second seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah defeated Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Santiago Gonzalez 6-2, 6-2 in 56 minutes to advance to the quarter-finals on Wednesday. The Colombian duo saved both break points faced and remain on track to earn their third clay-court title of the year (Rio and Buenos Aires).

Also into the final eight are third seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers, who downed German wild cards Kevin Krawietz and Maximilian Marterer 6-4, 6-2 in 53 minutes. Austrians Julian Knowle and Alexander Peya, seeded fourth, beat Germans Gero Kretschmer and Alexander Satschko 6-4, 6-3.

Day Four Preview

The BMW Open by FWU AG has been won by the likes of Roger Federer, Ivan Lendl and Guillermo Vilas, but no player has more victories in Munich than Germany’s own Philipp Kohlschreiber. The two-time champion and four-time finalist makes his 12th tournament appearance Thursday against countryman Florian Mayer. Kohlschreiber, who captured the title in 2007 and 2012, is 24-9 in Munich, ahead of Mikhail Youzhny (21-11) and Tommy Haas (20-11).

The Next Generation of German tennis precedes Kohlschreiber vs. Mayer on Center Court when 19-year-old Alexander Zverev meets Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic. Zverev is 0-3 in the FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry against Rosol, including a straight-set loss in the deciding rubber of a Davis Cup tie in March.

No. 1 seed David Goffin plays his first match of the 2016 tournament on Court 1 against Victor Estrella Burgos. Goffin is ranked a career-high No. 13 following semi-final runs at ATP Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami. But the Belgian is still seeking his first title in more than 19 months. Estrella Burgos has captured two titles in that time, both on the clay courts of Quito.