ATP Singapore: Marin Cilic, Alexander Bublik, Alexei Popyrin reach quarters

The 21-year-old Alexei Popyrin will compete in the first ATP quarter-final since Atlanta 2019 following a 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 triumph over Adrian Andreev in an hour and 51 minutes. Popyrin lost serve once in the second set's closing stages and had the upper hand in the first and third to bring the victory home and advance into the last eight. Alexei rattled off five straight games in the opener for 6-1 and wasted more return opportunities at the beginning of the second. Bouncing back, Adrian started to serve better and grabbed his only break in game 12 to steal the set 7-5 and force a decider. Starting all over, the Aussie delivered four fine holds in the final set and grabbed breaks in games five and nine to seal the deal in style and advance into the quarters.

The struggling Croat Marin Cilic defeated Taro Daniel 7-5, 6-4 in an hour and 40 minutes for his first quarter-final since Moscow in October 2019! Marin fired 12 aces and fended off three out of four break chances to keep the pressure on the other side. The Japanese couldn't repeat those numbers, losing serve thrice to propel the rival over the top.

Marin Cilic and Alexander Bublik are through to the last eight in Singapore.

Daniel claimed three straight games from 4-2 down in the opening set and stood two points away from the set at deuce at 5-4 before Cilic clinched three consecutive breaks for 7-5. The returners claimed only a couple of points in the second set's opening eight games before Daniel wasted three game points at 4-4, losing serve and allowing Cilic to seal the deal with a hold at 30 in game ten.

The 4th seed Alexander Bublik took down the Turkish qualifier Altug Celikbilek 6-2, 6-2 in 53 minutes, dropping 11 points behind the initial shot and delivering two breaks in each set to control the scoreboard secure the quarter-final berth. The 5th seed Yoshihito Nishioka ousted Maxime Cressy 6-4, 6-2 in an hour and 21 minutes, serving well and putting the American's second serve to the limits to break him thrice and stay strong from start to finish. Eight players will battle for four quarter-final spots on Thursday.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3spZhK1