TENNIS – NIKITA Bilozertsev from Ukraine upset top seed Ilia Simakin from Russia yesterday to advance to the men’s singles quarter-finals in the second Bahrain Men’s ITF World Tennis M25 Manama tournament, currently being played at the Public Security Officers Club in Gudaibiya.
Bilozertsev won their head-to-head 6-4, 6-1, and will next take on Maximillian Homberg from Germany, who battled past Syrian wild card Hazem Naw 7-6 (0), 6-7 (5), 6-4 in a thriller to march through.
Also claiming a stunning win was Spaniard Ivan Marrero Curbelo, who took down British second seed Giles Hussey 7-6 (5), 6-1. Curbelo next plays Timofei Derepasko from Russia in the quarters.
The other match-ups in the elite eight see third seed Jelle Sels from the Netherlands take on fifth seed Olaf Pieczkowski from Poland, and fourth seed Sergey Fomin from Uzbekistan clash with eighth-seeded German Nino Ehrenschneider, who was the champion of the first Men’s ITF World Tennis Tour event – an M15 competition – held last week in the kingdom. The ongoing tournament carries $30,000 in total prize money.
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