Bengaluru: On a day when the fancied players bit the dust, Ante Pavic caused the biggest ripple as he showed fourth seed Elias Ymer the door in a pre-quarterfinal match of the US $ 100,000 Bengaluru Open at the KSLTA Stadium here on Wednesday.
The unheralded Croatian who was a 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-6(5) winner, will clash with Jay Clarke of Great Britain who upset fifth seed Ramkumar Ramnathan of India in a grueling three-setter 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinal.
In another upset, lucky loser Antoinne Escoffier of France sent home eighth seed Aleksandr Nedovyesov of Khazakistan 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. However the top seed Slovanian Blaz Kavcic of Croatia and third seed Yuki Bhambri of India, although stretched by their respective opponents, made it to the last eight stage.
Kavcic who has been struggling with a knee pain, raced to a 4-0 lead, thanks to breaks in the first and third games. However, the Spainard fought back to win three games in a row and showed the promise of a comeback which he did in the second set which he clinched 6-3.
A disputed line call was playing up on Kavcic’s mind which did make him lose his concentration. In the deciding set, Martinex lost his serve in the opening game but broke back.
A similar story followed in the fifth and sixth game. Kavcic send down an ace to hold serve in the seventh game and achieved a break in the next to go 5-3 up. Martinez saved three match points, thanks to two double faults but before he could lose control, the top seed sealed the match.
“I am not used to playing in high altitudes. The long games are putting pressure on my knee,” said Kavcic who by the virtue of his second round win has almost sealed a spot in the Australian Open in January.
While Kavcic was stretched by Spaniard Mario Villela Martinez before prevailing 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, Bhambri quelled the challenge of Pedro Martinez 6-2, 7-6 (0).
Prajnesh Gunneswaran who had felled sixth seed Evan King in the opening round, continued his fine run eliminating Australian Marc Polmans 6-2, 6-7 (1), 6-1 in a fast paced game.
Also advancing to the quarterfinals was wildcard Sumit Nagal who was a 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 winner over Brydan Klein of Great Britain and Tsung-Hua Yang of Taipei who overcame qualifier Borna Gojo 2-6, 6-4, 6-2. Gojo had earlier ousted second seed Adrian Menendez-Maceiras in the opening round.
