PARMA/STARNBERG, October 6, 2022

Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain has advanced to the quarterfinals of the Parma Challenger presented by Iren, being held at the Tennis Club Parma. The top seed of the €134,920 clay-court event defeated Serbian veteran Miljan Zekic 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday.

Carballes Baena capitalized on five of his six break-point opportunities and won 58 per cent of the total points played to seal victory in one hour and 15 minutes.

Slinding into the QFs of #Parmachallenger presented by @gruppoiren 🏃🏼‍♂️ @Robertocarba93 @ATPChallenger | @RFETenis pic.twitter.com/OfguBAuFof

— MEF tennis events (@meftennisevents) October 6, 2022

“I beat two tough opponents. Zekic is aggressive, I had to serve well throughout the match and I raised the level at the right moments,” said Carballes Baena, who outlasted local wild card entry Gianmarco Ferrari in the opening round in three sets.

“I’m playing well, the last month has been excellent,” said the World No. 77 from Tenerife, who has reached a career-high ranking of World No. 71. “I want to continue like this and it would be nice to leave Parma getting back to my best ranking. Being the top seed does not change much, every match must be played on the court and this could be seen during my first match against Ferrari, who showed a great performance.”

Carballes Baena will next take on Vit Kopriva. The 25-year-old from the Czech Republic fought past his compatriot Zdenek Kolar 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 in two hours and 22 minutes.

In the longest match of the day, Timofey Skatov knocked out sixth-seeded Spaniard Carlos Taberner 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-2. The 209th-ranked Kazakh withstood five aces and broke his rival’s serve six times to prevail after three hours and 18 minutes.

Skatov will next play Hungarian qualifier Mate Valkusz, who battled past wild card Gian Marco Moroni of Italy 6-3, 4-6, 7-5. The encounter lasted two hours and 48 minutes.