POZOBLANCO, July 21, 2021
Four players from the bottom half of the draw at the Open Ciudad de Pozoblanco booked a spot in the quarterfinals of the €44,820 ATP Challenger Tour hard-court event being held in Andalusia, Spain on Wednesday.
No. 2 seed Gregoire Barrere remained untroubled during his 6-3, 6-0 second-round win over 20-year-old Bulgarian Adrian Andreev. The World No. 135 from France, a three-time Challenger titlist, saved the only break point he faced and capitalized on all of his own five break-point chances to advance in only 51 minutes.
Barrere will next take on Bolivian lucky loser Federico Zeballos. The 33-year-old South American beat Romanian teenager Filip Cristian Jianu 7-6(6), 6-4 to reach the stage of the final eight at Challenger level for the first time. Zeballos, who has captured five titles on the ITF Pro Circuit, prevailed after one hour and 54 minutes.
¡Habrá presencia española y andaluza en cuartos!
Adrián Menéndez sigue firme en su torneo talismán#ATPChallenger#TenisPozoblanco #AndaluciaRegionEuropeaDelDeporte pic.twitter.com/ZXU4ROpOXk
— Open Ciudad de Pozoblanco (@PozoblancoOpen) July 21, 2021
World No. 289 Adrian Menendez-Maceiras is the last Spaniard standing in the singles draw. The 35-year-old home favourite edged out No. 5 seed Maxime Janvier from France 7-6(4), 6-3. Menendez-Maceiras withstood six aces and broke his opponent’s serve one time to secure victory in one hour and 48 minutes.
Up next for the veteran from Marbella will be Altug Celikbilek. The third seed of Turkey came back from a set down to battle past Russia’s Teymuraz Gabashvili 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. Celikbilek won 14 points more than his rival to succeed after two hours and 13 minutes.
