AT least one seeded player will reach the Marrakech Open fantasy tennis tournament final after all four seeds won their respective Round of 16 clashes today. Leading the way was second seed, Fabio Fognini who took down Australian wildcard, Thanasi Kokkinakis in a blitz 6-2 6-1, winning in just 56 minutes to book a spot in the quarter finals.

Joining Fognini in the next round was seventh seed Marin Cilic, who will be the Italian firebrand’s next opponent. The Croatian seventh seed saw off Brazilian challenger, Thiago Monteiro with a couple of breaks the difference, 6-3 6-3. Another match with an identical scoreline was that of Argentina’s Guido Pella and Chilean Nicolas Jarry.

Seeded sixth in Marrakech, Pella was too strong for his lower ranked South American, getting up 6-3 6-3 and earning a place in the quarter finals. His clay court work was superb and he looks to push next opponent, Pablo Carreno Busta in their quarter final. Carreno Busta made his way into the last eight with a strong performance against veteran compatriot, Fernando Verdasco.

The all-Spanish clash might have looked similar on the scoreline, but both counter punchers showed they were willing to dig deep and battle it out for long periods of time. The match lasted two and a half hours in some challenging conditions before Carreno Busta booked a place in the quarters.

In tomorrow’s action to wrap up the Round of 16, number one seed Alexander Zverev looks to continue his run here against Spaniard, Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Following that, the eighth seed Brit and in-form Kyle Edmund clashes with German Philipp Kohlschreiber, before fifth seed Filip Krajinovic takes to the court against unseeded Hungarian, Marton Fucsovics. In the final match of the day, Federico Delbonis meets Pablo Andujar in an all-unseeded match following Delbonis’ win over third seed, Benoit Paire in the opening round.

ROUND OF 16 RESULTS:

[2] Fabio Fognini (ITA) defeated [WC] Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) 6-2 6-1
[4] Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) defeated Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 6-3 6-4
[6] Guido Pella (ARG) defeated Nicolas Jarry (CHI) 6-3 6-3
[7] Marin Cilic (CRO) defeated Thiago Monteiro (BRA) 6-3 6-3