Wednesday was a day to remember for Alexandre Muller at the Bitpanda Hamburg Open. The 28-year-old Frenchman scored the biggest win of his career by defeating top seed Alexander Zverev 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(5) in a thrilling second-round match.
Muller stayed strong on serve and matched Zverev from the baseline throughout the two-hour, 41-minute battle. The win marks his first victory over a Top 3 opponent and pushes him to 17 tour-level wins this season—a personal best.
Next, Muller will face Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarter-finals. Auger-Aliassime advanced after beating Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 6-2, 6-4.
Muller began the season by winning his first ATP title in Hong Kong. He is now ranked No. 39 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, matching his career-high from April.
Earlier in the day, third seed Andrey Rublev opened his Hamburg campaign with a 6-3, 7-5 win over 17-year-old German wildcard Justin Engel. Despite dropping serve in the first game, Rublev recovered well, converting four of 13 break points. The 2020 Hamburg champion will now face Luciano Darderi in the quarter-finals. Rublev is aiming to win back-to-back matches for the first time since lifting the Doha trophy in February.
In other action, Jiri Lehecka and Tomas Martin Etcheverry also reached the quarter-finals with strong performances. Lehecka beat fourth seed Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-2, while Etcheverry defeated fellow Argentine Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-4, 6-4.
Veteran Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut claimed his first win over a Top 20 opponent in more than a decade by defeating second seed Frances Tiafoe 6-2, 6-3. It ended a 30-match losing streak against Top 20 players dating back to 2014. Bautista Agut will play Flavio Cobolli for a spot in the semi-finals. Cobolli advanced with a 6-4, 7-5 win over fifth seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
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