Stefanos Tsitsipas powered past Pablo Cuevas 7-5, 6-4 on Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the Hamburg European Open and continue his warm-up for the French Open.
In a rematch of his only clay-court final win, Tsitsipas saved four break points at 4-4 in the first set and another at 5-5 before breaking Cuevas to take a 1-0 lead. He extended his unbeaten record against the Uruguayan to 3-0.
They last met when Tsitsipas beat Cuevas 6-3, 7-6 (4) in Estoril in May 2019 for his only tour-level title to date on clay. The Greek player, ranked sixth in the world, is building momentum on clay after losing in the first round in Rome last week.
His quarterfinal opponent is Dusan Lajovic, who swept past eighth-seeded Karen Khachanov 6-1, 6-2 in their second-round match. Since the tour restarted amid the coronavirus pandemic, Khachanov has gone four tournaments without making the quarterfinals.
After knocking out top-seeded Daniil Medvedev in the first round, France’s Ugo Humbert followed it up with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Jiri Vesely to reach his first career ATP quarterfinal on clay. He will face either Fabio Fognini or Casper Ruud.