The backlogs as a result of the rain have been made up, so that the quarterfinals can be played on Friday as planned. Dominic Thiem will not be there, to the chagrin of the audience. He was defeated by the first seeded Czech Jiri Lehecka. Thiem’s service is certainly not bad with regular hits of between 190 and 200 km per hour, but Lehecka’s is even harder. The counter was regularly around 220. This sublime service forms an excellent basis for the Czech’s game. He regularly plays service volley with great success. Thiem was unable to answer that. The first set went 6-3 to Jiri Lehecka. That there are opportunities for the opponent when the Czech cannon is upset, became apparent in the second set, because Thiem managed to force a break, leading him 4-2. Unfortunately for the Austrian, his own service game was then dramatically bad, so that the break was immediately undone. Lehecka then picked up his game from the first set and also won the second set 7-5. In the quarterfinals he now plays against the Italian Matteo Cobolli.
As we mentioned earlier, the Australian Popyrin is also there due to his great victory over Sebastiaan Ofner (6-4; 6-1) and Dino Prizmic who defeated Zsombor Piros (6-2; 6-3). For Taro Daniel from Japan, however, the tournament is over. He went lost against Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena 6-3; 6-1. Another Spaniard we will meet in the quarterfinals is Jaume Munar who shattered the Hungarian dream with his victory over Fabian Marozsan. The Italian Marco Cecchinato almost managed to repeat his feat of a day earlier: coming back after being seriously behind. He lost the first set to his second-seeded compatriot Lorenzo Sonego 6-1, and fell behind by a break (1-3) in the second but managed to reverse it. After a minor incident with the referee about a difference of opinion on whether a ball was in or out, reminiscent of the drama Damir Dzumhur staged earlier, it became 6-6. The Italian public made themselves heard en masse, with both players having their own fans. In the end, Lorenzo Sonego won (9-7), so that the number two seeded is still in the tournament.
Where the audience was sad about the loss of Dominic Thiem, there was great joy in another audience favorite. Stan Wawrinka played a very solid game for the second time. The gravel surface at the sea level courts in Umag seem very suitable for his game. The track is not very fast, which makes it difficult to get the Swiss out of position. In addition, Wawrinka, like Lehecka, has a great first serve, so we regularly see him coming to the net after his service. He knows by joining so to put his opponent under great pressure, just like with his phenomenal backhand along the line. In the first set, however, Frederico Coria was able to keep up with the Swiss (7-5), but in the second set the candle went out for the Argentinian (6-1). Remarkable was the sporting behavior of Coria, who gave a point to Wawrinka after what he considered to be an incorrect decision by a line judge, and with another ball, which was possible subject to discussion, he mentioned the referee not to come from the chair as he agreed with Wawrinka that the ball was out.
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