BIEL/STARNBERG, March 25, 2022
In his only third appearance on the ATP Challenger Tour, Swiss rising tennis star Leandro Riedi has reached the quarterfinals for the first time. The 20-year-old Frauenfeld native cruised past Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen 6-4, 6-4 in Thursday’s second-round match at the Flowbank Challenger Biel/Bienne.
Wild card entry Riedi was solid on his serve, sent down five aces and won 92 per cent of his first-service points to prevail after only 58 minutes. The World No. 590, finalist at the 2020 Roland-Garros junior tournament and winner of two titles on the ITF World Tennis Tour, will next take on Jurij Rodionov. The 22-year-old Austrian defeated Dutch qualifier Jelle Sels 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 38 minutes.
Stricker advances, Feldbausch falls
Later in the day, Swiss teenager Dominic Stricker also booked his spot in the stage of the final four at the Jan Group Arena. The No. 3 seed of the of the €45,730 indoor hard-court tournament edged past US-American qualifier Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-4, 7-6(3). The 19-year-old from Münsingen fired 11 aces and capitalized on three of his four break-point chances to seal victory in one hour and 21 minutes.
Stricker, champion of the 2020 French Open boys’ singles as well as doubles title, will next play No. 8 seed Tim van Rijthoven from the Netherlands. The World No. 157 captured his maiden Challenger crown on home soil in Lugano in March last year.
In other action, Filip Horansky of Slovakia ended the run of 16-year-old local Kilian Feldbausch, as he claimed a hard-fought 7-6(6), 7-6(5) win over the wild card entry. The World No. 199 outpointed the youngster 84-81 after one hour and 47 minutes. Up next for Horansky will be Czech qualifier Marek Gengel, who edged out Borna Gojo from Croatia 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-1. The longest encounter of the day lasted one hour and 54 minutes.
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