VILLENA/STARNBERG, October 13, 2021
Constant Lestienne headlined Wednesday’s second-round action at the Alicante Ferrero Challenger hosted by the JC Ferrero Equelite Sport Academy in Villena, Alicante in Spain. The World No. 258 from France upset the tournament’s No. 2 seed and former Top 10 player Fernando Verdasco, rallying 5-7, 7-6(4), 7-5.
In an even encounter that ended under the lights on Pista Central, Lestienne withstood 12 aces from the Spanish veteran, broke his serve four times and won one point less but secured victory in two hours and 33 minutes.
The 29-year-old, who lifted his last trophy at the 2018 Slovenia Open Challenger in Portoroz, will next face Austrian alternate Lucas Miedler, who knocked off No. 6 seed Kacper Zuk from Poland 7-5, 6-3 after one hour and 23 minutes.
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In other action, Oscar Otte eased past Italian Thomas Fabbiano 6-1, 6-4. The No. 3 seed from Germany was in control of the match, didn’t face a break point and capitalized on three of his own six break-point chances to advance after one hour and eight minutes.
Otte will next play Kazakh qualifier Denis Yevseyev, who continued his fine run of form in the Valencian Community with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan. The 28-year-old will appear in his first quarterfinal on the ATP Challenger Tour since Shenzhen, China in October 2019.
