Second seed Pablo Cuevas edged past Brit Dan Evans 6-7(4) 7-6(5) 6-4 to set up a tantalising Aegon Open Nottingham quarter-final against Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, while top seed Kevin Anderson is also through to the last eight.
Cypriot Baghdatis, a semi-finalist at the Nottingham Tennis Centre last year, came from a set down and saved two match points before overcoming 2015 Aegon Open runner-up Sam Querrey 1-6 7-6(8) 6-4.
Elsewhere, World No. 24 Anderson got past 2008 Nottingham finalist Fernando Verdasco in straight sets 6-3 7-6(6) and next plays American No. 6 seed Steve Johnson – who defeated Vasek Pospisil of Canada 7-6(4) 7-6(1) – last on Centre Court on Thursday.
Baghdatis, 31, said of his comeback win over Querrey: “I’m really happy I turned it around. I had a very bad first set with a lot of negative things going through my mind. I was feeling very tired and I thought it wasn’t my day out there.
“But I got a bit more positive and started playing better tennis. I’m very happy I found my mindset on court in the second and third sets. I think that’s a big step, and I’m happy that it happened today and not at Wimbledon.”
In other action, Italian No. 7 seed Andreas Seppi clinched his seventh match point after nine deuces against Dudi Sela as he served out his match 6-2 6-3, and Gilles Muller reached his second consecutive quarter-final on grass after outlasting Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny 6-7(4) 7-6 (4) 6-3 in two hours and 35 minutes. Muller goes on to play No. 4 seed Alexandr Dolgopolov first on Centre Court at 12noon on Thursday.
On his marathon win, eighth seed and World No. 41 Muller said: “I’m very happy that I won, it was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. I started pretty badly, then I got an early break, and all of a sudden I totally lost rhythm in my serve and I started panicking a bit.
“Against a guy like Mikhail, who was making a lot of returns and playing well from the baseline, it was very tough, so I’m happy that I’m through.”
AEGON OPEN NOTTINGHAM – NOTTINGHAM, GBR
€704,805
19-25 JUNE 2016
RESULTS – JUNE 22, 2016
Men’s Singles – Third Round
[1] K. Anderson (RSA) d [14] F. Verdasco (ESP) 63 76(6)
[2] P. Cuevas (URU) d D. Evans (GBR) 67(4) 76(5) 64
[4] A. Dolgopolov (UKR) d [Q] F. Dancevic (CAN) 63 75
[9] M. Baghdatis (CYP) d [5] S. Querrey (USA) 16 76(8) 64
[6] S. Johnson (USA) d [11] V. Pospisil (CAN) 76(4) 76(1)
[7] A. Seppi (ITA) d A. Mannarino (FRA) 62 63
[8] G. Muller (LUX) d M. Youzhny (RUS) 67(4) 76(4) 63
D. Sela (ISR) d B. Becker (GER) 63 26 64
Men’s Doubles – Quarterfinals
[2] D. Inglot (GBR) / D. Nestor (CAN) d N. Monroe (USA) / A. Sitak (NZL) 64 76(6)
O. Marach (AUT) / F. Martin (FRA) d [3] T. Huey (PHI) / M. Mirnyi (BLR) 64 57 10-5
S. Gonzalez (MEX) / S. Lipsky (USA) d P. Cuevas (URU) / J. Sousa (POR) 63 67(9) 10-8
First Round
[1] I. Dodig (CRO) / M. Melo (BRA) d [WC] J. Marray (GBR) / A. Shamasdin (CAN) 63 62
ORDER OF PLAY – THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2016
CENTRE COURT start 12:00 noon
[8] G. Muller (LUX) vs [4] A. Dolgopolov (UKR)
[9] M. Baghdatis (CYP) vs [2] P. Cuevas (URU)
D. Sela (ISR) vs [7] A. Seppi (ITA)
[1] K. Anderson (RSA) vs [6] S. Johnson (USA)
COURT 4 start 12:00 noon
[1] I. Dodig (CRO) / M. Melo (BRA) vs R. Lindstedt (SWE) / A. Qureshi (PAK)
S. Gonzalez (MEX) / S. Lipsky (USA) vs [2] D. Inglot (GBR) / D. Nestor (CAN)
COURT 2 start 11:00 am
LTA JUNIOR CHALLENGE TROPHY – S. Riffice (USA) vs R. Storrie (GBR)
LTA JUNIOR CHALLENGE TROPHY – J. Mcnally (USA) vs A. Gray (GBR)
LTA JUNIOR CHALLENGE TROPHY – U. Blanch (USA) vs R. Storrie (GBR)
LTA JUNIOR CHALLENGE TROPHY – J. Clarke (GBR) vs J. Mcnally (USA)
COURT 3 start 11:00 am
LTA JUNIOR CHALLENGE TROPHY – J. Wolf (USA) vs J. Clarke (GBR)
LTA JUNIOR CHALLENGE TROPHY – A. Canter (GBR) vs U. Blanch (USA)
LTA JUNIOR CHALLENGE TROPHY – A. Gray (GBR) vs J. Wolf (USA)
LTA JUNIOR CHALLENGE TROPHY – A. Canter (GBR) vs S. Riffice (USA)
The Aegon Open Nottingham
Tickets to the Aegon Open Nottingham ATP event, which starts Saturday, 18 June are available for as little as £23. Please visit the LTA website for more information.
Follow all the Aegon Open Nottingham action and reaction by following the live tournament blog
For information on the hospitality packages on offer at The Aegon Open Nottingham head to the LTA website or contact Elliot Sheasby on aegonopen@lta.org.uk
The Aegon Open Nottingham sees two tournaments take place in June, with the men’s ATP event staged from 18-25 June 2016. Both the WTA and ATP tournaments are an integral part of the British grass-court season, which features 11 international grass-court tournaments in eight venues across the country.
2017 Grass Court Tournament Calendar
Earlier this year the LTA announced exciting changes to the three week 2017 grass court tournament calendar. Nottingham will host a combined men’s and women’s tour-level tournament in the same week for the first time in 44 years. The pre-existing ATP 250 tournament will move back to Eastbourne, merging with the WTA Premier Aegon International to form a combined event (as it was from 2009-2014) featuring the following format: a 28-player main draw men’s event and 48-player main draw for the women staged across nine days. Other changes include a doubling of prize money at the Aegon Trophy Series (ATP Challenger & ITF Women’s Pro Circuit) creating the highest value circuit at this level in world tennis.