When the boys entered the stage, the matches were much harder to decide.
The clash of the day was the encounter between the Russian Dmitrii Burtsev and British player Viktor Frydrych (picture). A very even fight from first to the last ball. The crowd got to see great tennis where the players offered excellent duels at a high tempo. The Russian looked like he had control over the match, but late in the second set, Viktor started his comeback, final score being 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Second-seeded Martin Landaluce from Spain had a tough day at the office. Despite a good start with a 4-1 lead, the first set went to Daniil Sarksian from Russia after taking eight straight games. Daniil might have relaxed a bit too much when leading 6-4, 3-0 and became a little too passive. Martin took advantage of this and turned the second set from 1-4 to 6-4 in his favour. In the decisive set, the Spaniard found his way back to the high level he showed earlier this week and ended the third set 6-1.
Tomorrow we look forward to watching top-seed Atakan Karahan from Turkey and 3rd-seeded Oleksandr Ponomar from Ukraine. Ponomar will try to build the match around his serve and forehand, keeping the points short. Karahan, on the other hand, is very happy with being on the defensive and waiting for his opportunities. This contrast of playing styles will undoubtedly offer the spectators some very interesting tennis.