HAMBACH, October 6, 2016

The quarterfinals at the $10,000 Dittelbrunn Open are set. Number one seed Michal Konecny had to work hard to overcome Christoph Negritu from Germany, winning 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 on Thursday evening. The 26-year-old Czech hit 13 aces and capitalized on five of his 13 break point chances to prevail in two hours and 27 minutes.

The tournament’s number two Marek Jaloviec eased past German wild card Kai Lemstra 6-4, 6-2. The 22-year-old lefty sent down eight aces, winning 74 per cent of his first service points to advance in 79 minutes. Jaloviec will next take on world number 922 Bastian Wagner of Germany.

Lukas Ruepke, who defeated two time Dittelbrunn Open champion Neil Pauffley on Wednesday, knocked out another Brit on his way into the quarterfinals. The 23-year-old German qualifier showed an impressive performance with a powerful game, cruising past Keelan Oakley 6-1, 6-2 in only 57 minutes. Ruepke will next play David Polja from the Czech Republic.

Martins Podzus is a regular guest at the Tennis Center in Hambach and made it to the semi-finals two years ago. The world number 799 of Latvia returned to the stage of the final eight in 2016, winning 6-1, 6-3 over Austrian Thomas Statzberger. Podzus fired 12 aces and didn’t face a break point to finish the encounter in only 54 minutes. He will next take on Alexander Lazarov from Bulgaria, who took out sixth seed Ukranian Vadym Ursu with a 6-3, 7-6 victory in one hour and 23 minutes.