Victor Estrella Burgos, the fifth seed, kept alive his bid to retain the Ecuador Open Quito title on Thursday when he booked his place in the quarter-finals with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Andrej Martin in 72 minutes. Last year, the 35-year-old Estrella Burgos became the first player from the Dominican Republic to capture an ATP World Tour title.
In the next round, Estrella Burgos will face qualifier Renzo Olivo, who surprised fourth seed Fernando Verdasco 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3 in just under two hours. The 5’10” Argentine fired 15 aces to Verdasco’s six. Olivo, No. 158 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, is into his second ATP World Tour quarter-final. As a qualifier, he made the final eight of Bastad in 2014 (l. to Cuevas).
Seventh seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas narrowly avoided being eliminated by American serve-and-volleyer Rajeev Ram, winning 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-5 in two hours and 20 minutes. The 31-year-old Ram, who had never won back-to-back ATP World Tour main draw matches on clay, served for the match at 5-4 in the decider, but Ramos-Vinolas swept the last four games of the match to snatch victory. The Spaniard was out-aced 16 to six, but saved four of five break points and won 71 per cent of second serve points to advance.
In the quarter-finals, Ramos-Vinolas will face compatriot Feliciano Lopez. The second seed also narrowly avoided defeat, dropping the first set before beating Brazil’s Joao Souza 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-2. Lopez has never won a set against Ramos-Vinolas and trails their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 0-2. However, the two lefties have never met on clay at tour-level.
( Courtesy of the ATP and Original Link – http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/estrella-burgos-and-ramos-vinolas-advance-to-quito-quarter-finals )
RESULTS – THURSDAY, 4 FEBRUARY 2016
Singles – Second Round
[2] F. Lopez (ESP) d [Q] J. Souza (BRA) 46 76(5) 62
[Q] R. Olivo (ARG) d [4] F. Verdasco (ESP) 76(5) 36 63
[5] V. Estrella Burgos (DOM) d [Q] A. Martin (SVK) 75 61
[7] A. Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) d R. Ram (USA) 67(5) 63 75
Doubles – Quarter-finals
[3] A. Krajicek (USA) / N. Monroe (USA) d [PR] R. Maytin (VEN) / M. Reyes-Varela (MEX) 63 63
T. Bellucci (BRA) / M. Demoliner (BRA) d [4] G. Kretschmer (GER) / A. Satschko (GER) 46 61 10-4
SCHEDULE – FRIDAY, 5 FEBRUARY 2016
STADIUM start 12:00 noon
[3] T. Bellucci (BRA) vs [8] P. Carreno Busta (ESP)
[1] B. Tomic (AUS) vs [6] P. Lorenzi (ITA)
[5] V. Estrella Burgos (DOM) vs [Q] R. Olivo (ARG)
Not Before 6:30 pm
[7] A. Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) vs [2] F. Lopez (ESP)
COURT 1 start 3:00 pm
After Suitable Rest – A. Martin (SVK) / H. Podlipnik-Castillo (CHI) vs T. Bellucci (BRA) / M. Demoliner (BRA)
[3] A. Krajicek (USA) / N. Monroe (USA) vs P. Carreno Busta (ESP) / G. Duran (ARG)
Topics: Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Andrej Martin, Atp World Tour, Ecuador Open, Feliciano Lopez, Fernando Verdasco, Joao Souza, Quito, Rajeev Ram, Renzo Olivo, Sports, Tennis, Victor Estrella Burgos