BRAGA/STARNBERG, September 28, 2023

The quarterfinals of the Braga Open are set. Portuguese youngster Jaime Faria, who received a wild card into the main draw of the ATP Challenger Tour 75 clay-court tournament, backed up his first-round victory over No. 2 seed Timofey Skatov with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Tunisian qualifier Moez Echargui in the second round on Thursday.

The 20-year-old Lisbon native sent down three aces and won 79 per cent of his first-service points to prevail after one hour and 18 minutes.

Two days after upsetting the second seed Timofey Skatov to record the best win of his career, 20-year-old Jaime Faria defeats Moez Echargui 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals of an @ATPChallenger for the 1st time here at the #BragaOpen. He just keeps getting better and better. pic.twitter.com/AnwUrGdZeI

— Gaspar Ribeiro Lança (@gasparlanca) September 28, 2023

“It’s always special to reach the first quarterfinals and overcome barriers, especially in Portugal,” Faria said in his post-match press conference. “I didn’t feel very good on the court and didn’t play well. We both seemed to be nervous and we both felt it was a good opportunity to advance to the quarterfinals. But I was quite competitive.”

Faria, a two-time champion on the ITF World Tennis Tour, has reached the quarterfinal of an ATP Challenger event for the first time. Up next for the World No. 276 will be Oriol Roca Batalla of Spain, a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Gerard Campana Lee from South Korea.

In other action, fourth favourite Pablo Llamas Ruiz of Spain cruised past his compatriot Carlos Sanchez Jover 6-0, 6-1 in only 54 minutes and will next take on Benjamin Hassan of Lebanon, who outlasted No. 8 seed Matteo Gigante of Italy 6-4, 1-6, 6-1.