SEGOVIA/STARNBERG, July 24, 2026
The 40th edition of the Open Castilla y León Villa de El Espinar has moved past the halfway point of the week, with the singles quarterfinal line-up now completed after Thursday’s action in Segovia, Spain.
The day featured the top-half second-round matches, with four singles encounters deciding the remaining quarterfinal places.
Moro Canas emerges as the last Spanish player standing
At midday, an all-Spanish clash took center stage as Alejandro Moro Canas, the tournament’s fourth seed, faced qualifier Ivan Marrero Curbelo. In a high-intensity contest, Moro Canas used his aggressive style and superior ranking to secure a 6-3, 6-4 victory in one hour and 26 minutes, becoming the only Spanish player to reach the quarterfinals of the ATP Challenger 75 hard-court event.
The reaction says it all 🚀
Alejandro Moro Canas comes through the all-Spanish clash, beating Marrero Curbelo 6-3, 6-4 in Segovia 🇪🇸#ATPChallenger | @Tenis_Espinar | @alejandromoro00 pic.twitter.com/bdfxxLoipz
— ATP Challenger (@ATPChallenger) July 23, 2026
He will now take on Britain’s Oliver Crawford, who defeated local wildcard Alejo Sanchez Quilez 6-4, 7-6 later in the afternoon. Sanchez Quilez produced a disciplined and competitive performance, but Crawford’s greater consistency and ability to control the tempo proved decisive. The British fifth seed will face a Spanish opponent for the third consecutive round when he meets Moro Canas on Friday.
Martineau and Erel complete the quarterfinal field
The morning session began on Pista Central Pedro Munoz with a meeting between France’s Matteo Martineau and Argentine alternate Gonzalo Villanueva. Martineau won 6-3, 7-6(6), ensuring that three French players will feature in Friday’s quarterfinals.
One of the most dramatic matches of the day followed on Pista 1, where Turkey’s Yanki Erel edged qualifier Dominik Palan of the Czech Republic 3-6, 7-6, 6-2. Palan came agonizingly close to victory and held four match points in the second-set tie-break, but Erel survived the danger, forced a decider, and then raced through the final set to complete the comeback.
