BIEL/STARNBERG, September 24, 2021
Fans at the inaugural Flowbank Challenger Biel/Bienne, an €44,820 ATP Challenger Tour tournament being held at the Jan Group Arena in Biel, Switzerland, will have two local players to cheer on this weekend after wild card entry Dominic Stricker and seventh seed Marc-Andrea Huesler both won their quarterfinal matches on Friday.
Stricker defeated German veteran Tobias Kamke 6-4, 6-4. The 19-year-old from Münsingen, who captured his maiden title on the ATP Challenger Tour in Lugano in March, remains undefeated on home soil this season. Stricker sent down four aces and won 80 per cent of his first-service points to advance after one hour and 21 minutes. The World No. 287 beat Frenchman Maxime Janvier and No. 2 seed Henri Laaksonen in the rounds before.
Next up for Stricker will be Briton Liam Broady. The No. 5 seed of the hard-court event edged out Ramkumar Ramanathan of India 7-6(2), 6-2 in one hour and 29 minutes.
Undefeated on home soil in 2021 👏🇨🇭
19-year-old @DominicStricker defeats No. 2 seed Henri Laaksonen 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 at the #ATPChallenger event in Biel! #FlowBankChallenger pic.twitter.com/NQV5V1S6ZC
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) September 23, 2021
Later in the day, Huesler rallied past French qualifier Antoine Escoffier 5-7, 6-1, 6-2. The 25-year-old from Zurich capitalized on five of his nine break-point chances to secure victory in one hour and 44 minutes.
Huesler will oppose Tim van Rijthoven from the Netherlands, who knocked off No. 6 seed Joao Sousa of Portugal 7-6(4), 6-4 in the final singles match of the day, which lasted 90 minutes.
