Fognini conquers Montanes to reach last eight

fabiofognini

The world number 20 was runner-up in the final of the ATP 250 clay court event in Umag 12 months ago, and will be desperate to go one better this time around.

The duo traded breaks in the first set, before Fognini raced into a 6-1 lead in the tie-break, wasting one set point before eventually capitalising to move into the lead.

Fognini was in devastating form in the second, conceding just three points in its entirety as Montanes failed to live with his opponent, who cruised into the last eight.

He will face world number 230 Borna Coric in the quarter-final, after the Croat saw off Horacio Zeballos 7-6 (7-4) 6-3.

Coric got the better of a tight first set, in which neither man was able to make any inroads on their opponent's serve.

The second set saw Coric take the upper hand with a break in game six and although he squandered two match points at 5-2, served out in the next game to advance to the last eight.

The remaining quarter-final will be contested between Teymuraz Gabashvili and Pablo Cuevas, who won their respective matches against Joao Sousa and Andreas Seppi.

Cuevas, winner of the Swedish Open two weeks ago, continued his fine form with a straightforward 6-3 6-1 success over the sixth seed Seppi.

Sousa, seeded fourth for this tournament, was runner-up to Cuevas in Sweden but there will be no repeat final from the Portuguese after he went down 3-6 6-4 6-2 to Gabashvili.

After breaking the Russian twice on his way to winning the first set, Sousa then clinched an early advantage in the second, only for Gabashvili to hit back with a quickfire double break and level the match.

The deciding set belonged to the world number 68, who broke in games four and eight to seal a comeback victory and his place in the next round.

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