KAZAHKSTAN’S Alexander Bublik would be thankful that Rome Masters finalist, Diego Schwartzman opted to pull out of the Hamburg European Open. The world number 56 suffered defeat in qualifying and looked to miss the final lead-up tournament to Roland Garros. That was until the seventh seeded Argentinian decided rest was more of a priority after a long Masters tournament. It allowed Bublik to enter the main draw and now the Kazakh has strung together back-to-back wins.

The second of those wins was against 20-year-old up and comer, Felix Auger-Aliassime, 6-4 6-2 in 78 minutes. Whilst the final result might look like a straightforward win, Bublik lost the first three games of the match, to come back and win 12 of the next 15 games and run out victorious in 78 minutes to move through to a quarter final.

“When you step on a clay court, which is not my favourite surface, and play someone as great as Felix, you have a little pressure,” Bublik said post-match. “Felix got off to a fast start, so I am happy to have found my rhythm and get through.”

Now Bublik will take on Chilean Cristian Garin in the quarter finals after the world number 22 took no chances against giant-killing German wildcard Yannick Hanfmann. Garin won 6-2 7-6 against the world number 103, winning 77 per cent of his first serve points, and breaking his opponent four times to two in the hour and 37 minutes on court.

In other second round matches, two of the top five seeds advanced through to the final eight, with Roberto Bautista Agut and Andrey Rublev both winning their respective matches. Bautista Agut had to fight across three sets to defeat the last remaining German in Dominik Koepfer, while Rublev also needed three sets to end the run of qualifier Tommy Paul, 6-1 3-6 6-2.

Both players being predominantly counter punchers meant it was always going to be a battle, and Koepfer initially had a break on the Spaniard to lead 3-2 in the deciding set. The experience of Bautista Agut in these situations shone through however, as the fourth seed won the last four games, breaking twice for a total of seven for the match, to win in two hours and four minutes. He now faces Rublev in a massive quarter finals clash.

Meanwhile there were still a couple of Round 1 matches taking place with second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas taking care of Great Britain’s Daniel Evans with minimal fuss. The Greek talent won 6-3 6-1 to book his spot in the Round of 16 in just 59 minutes. In what was his debut match in Hamburg, Tsitsipas said he was pleased he could start the tournament in such great form.

“It’s very satisfying to be playing that level of tennis, as I’ve missed playing on clay,” Tsitsipas said post-match. “It helps for my confidence. I’ve watched this tournament on TV since I was very young and I’m delighted to have gotten off to a strong start.”

The second seed now moves on to play Uruguayan qualifier, Pablo Cuevas in the second round. The winner of that clash will face the victor of Karen Khachanov and Dusan Lajovic with both matches scheduled for tomorrow. Up the other end of the draw, Rome Masters semi-finalist Casper Ruud defeated a sore Benoit Paire 6-4 2-0 to book his spot in the Round of 16 with a blockbuster clash against sixth seed Italian Fabio Fognini. That match will also take place tomorrow with the winner to lock horns with either Ugo Humbert or Jiri Vesely in the quarter finals.

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