Rojer/Qureshi Reach Stuttgart QF

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).