BARCELONA/STARNBERG, April 4, 2024
Following the tournament in Girona, the clay-court swing in Catalonia continues this week with the Emilio Sanchez Challenger by Waterdrop. The ATP Challenger Tour 75 event offers a total prize money of €74,825 and is being held at the Emilio Sanchez Academy in El Prat de Llobregat, located in the province of Barcelona.
Three Spaniards have reached the quarterfinals led by No. 2 seed Bernabe Zapata Miralles. The 143rd-ranked Valencia native beat Austrian Lukas Neumayer in the first round in straight sets and benefited from the retirement of Italian Marco Cecchinato on Thursday. Zapata Miralles was leading 6-1, 4-0 when Cecchinato was forced to stop playing due to stomach problems.
The World No. 143 will next play seventh-seeded Briton Billy Harris, who beat US-American wild card entry Tristan McCormick 6-1, 6-1 in his opening match. French qualifier Gabriel Debru was forced to retire in the second round after Harris had won the first set 6-0.
Interview.
▶️ Billy Harris (GBR) [7] advances to quarter-finals.
ATP Challenger Emilio Sánchez Academy Challenger by Waterdrop. pic.twitter.com/Pzs1jiAv4x— Emilio Sánchez Academy Bcn (@EmilioSanchezBn) April 4, 2024
Taberner tames Albot
In the top half of the draw, Carlos Taberner battled his way from the qualifying to the quarterfinals. The World No. 392 from Valencia beat Henri Squire of Germany in the opening round followed by a 6-4, 7-5 victory over fourth-seeded Moldovan veteran Radu Albot in the second round. Taberner broke his rival’s serve five times to advance in two hours and four minutes.
“Radu is a great player, who reached the final last week, I am very pleased with my performance today,” said Taberner, who will next play his compatriot Javier Barranco Cosano, a 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 winner over No. 6 seed Ivan Gakhov of Russia.
Italian qualifier Lorenzo Giustino, No. 3 seed Jesper de Jong from the Netherlands, Romanian Nicholas David Ionel and Nick Hardt from the Dominican Republic, who knocked out top seed Quentin Halys of France in his first match, round out the final eight.
