Two-time finalist and third seed Jack Sock reached the quarterfinals of the Intrum Stockholm Open via a 6-4, 6-4 win over Jeremy Chardy Wednesday. Sock won 78 percent of his service points and saved the only break point he faced to beat Chardy, improving his record against the Frenchman to 3-0 and snapping a five-match losing streak. The 25-year-old Sock will next face Fabio Fognini, a three-set winner over Elias Ymer. It was a sorry loss for the 21-year-old Ymer, who was two points away from victory in the deciding set before Fognini recovered for the win and his seventh ATP World Tour quarterfinal in 2017.
Veteran Mischa Zverev dismissed Ymer’s younger brother, 19-year-old Mikael Ymer, via a 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 win. Zverev, seeded fifth in the event, will now play Viktor Troicki.
Eighth seed Fernando Verdasco also made it to the quarterfinals after eliminating lucky loser Jurgen Zopp, 6-4, 6-2 in 73 minutes. Verdasco will play the winner of the clash between second seed Kevin Anderson and South Korean Hyeon Chung. Polish qualifier Jerzy Janowicz beat Pierre-Hugues Herbert in three sets to arrange a quarterfinal clash against fourth seed Juan Martin del Potro. German Jan-Lennard Struff will play Grigor Dimitrov after beating Marius Copil in three sets.
Benneteau wins in Antwerp
Julien Benneteau of France defeated Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland, 6-1, 6-1, in just 54 minutes to book a spot in the quarterfinal round of the European Open in Antwerp.
Next up for the 35-year-old Benneteau is the winner between second seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or qualifier Kenny De Schepper. Joao Sousa also reached the next round after beating Sergiy Stakhovsky in three sets. Sousa will take on Ruben Bemelmans, who stunned third seed Nick Kyrgios 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals of a tour-level event for a third time.
Steve Darcis also advanced when his opponent, German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe retired while trailing, 4-6, 6-4, 1-0, because of a right wrist injury. Darcis will next play third seed David Ferrer of Spain.
Medvedev boosts chances for Next Gen ATP Finals
Russian Daniil Medvedev boosted his chances of making it to the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals after beating Andrey Kuznetsov, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(6), Wednesday at the VTB Kremlin Cup in Moscow.
Medvedev hit 16 aces and saved eight of 11 break points to beat Kuznetsov and seal a clash with top seed Pablo Carreno Busta. Currently, Medvedev is eighth in the ATP Race To Milan. The top seven will qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals, which will be held November 7 to 11 in Milan, Italy. The eighth spot is allotted to the winner of an Italian 21-and-under tournament.
