JÖNKÖPING, March 10, 2016

The remaining second round matches were scheduled on Thursday at the €42,500 RC Hotel Open in Jönköping.

Locar hero and Swedish best ranked tennis player Elias Ymer defeated French qualifer Constant Lestienne 6-3, 6-2. The 19-year-old from Stockholm won 75% of his first service points and converted five of his nine break point opportunities to advance after 69 minutes.

“I’m mentally fresh,” Ymer said after reaching his first quarterfinal on the ATP Challenger Tour since last September. “Getting here and being mentally prepared for every match is a good thing, as this is not always the case.” Ymer’s appearance in Jönköping was uncertain, as the Swedish youngster suffered from a flu ahead of the tournament.

Ymer will take on Matwe Middelkoop in the stage of the final eight. The world number 824 from the Netherlands battled through the qualifying to reach his first singles main draw of the season, knocking out the tournament’s number five Gastao Elias 6-4, 6-1. The match lasted 65 minutes.

Swedish wild card Isak Arvidsson, who upset second favourite Dustin Brown on Wednesday, was without any chance against Andrey Golubev. The in-form Kazakh, who teamed up with Aleksandr Nedovyesov to beat Novak Djokovic and Nenad Zimonjic at the Davis Cup last weekend, fired eight aces and capitalized on four of his eight break points to secure a 6-2, 6-4 victory in 62 minutes.

Golubev will play another local in the quarterinal, as qualifier Patrik Rosenholm continued his winning streak against Grega Zemlja. The world number 1028 from Lidingo rallied back to claim a 5-7, 7-6, 7-6 victory in two hours and seven minutes.

“Playing three sets is nothing I chose, it just happened,” Arvidsson told after reaching his first quarterfinal since July 2012. “Being in a second round of an ATP Challenger with this great audience here is something I really enjoy. I also play good tennis.”

“When I am playing like that, it’s possible for me to compete at this level. I want to come back to the ranking, which allows me to play Challengers again. My goal is simply to see how good I can be. If it doesn’t make fun anymore to play tennis, I will stop,” the former world number 350 explained.

Third seed Jan-Lennard Struff, who remains the highest ranked player in the draw, ousted Jurgen Zopp 6-4, 6-1 to take on Tristan Lamasine next, who downed Farrukh Dustov 6-3, 7-6, 6-4 in two hours and five minutes. In the fourth quarterfinal Karen Khachanov will meet Andrea Arnaboldi.