Second-seeded Ben Shelton saved two set points in the second set, including one in the tiebreaker, in knocking off Belgian wild card Alexander Blockx 6-4, 7-6 (8) on Wednesday in the BMW Open's second round in Munich, Germany.
Ranked No. 6 in the world, Shelton is 6-1 all-time in Munich, where he reached the clay-court final in 2025 and lost to Germany's Alexander Zverev. Shelton saved all three break points in the match against Blockx and had more winners (26-11) and aces (4-0) as well as double
faults (2-0) and unforced errors (32-15).
Italy's Flavio Cobolli, the fourth seed, downed Belgium's Zizou Bergs 6-2, 6-3, but other seeds didn't fare as well. Czech Vit Kopriva upset eighth-seeded Luciano Darderi of Italy 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, and Brazil's Joao Fonseca defeated seventh-seeded Arthur Rinderknech of France 6-3, 6-2. Fonseca, 19, takes on Shelton in the quarterfinals.
Hungary's Fabian Marozsan completed his match suspended by darkness on Tuesday with a 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 victory over Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas on Wednesday.
Barcelona Open
Wild card Rafael Jodar became the third Spanish teenager this century to reach the Barcelona quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Argentina's Camilo Ugo Carabelli in one hour, 30 minutes.
The other two teens were all-time great Rafael Nadal (2005-06) and current World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz (2022-23), who pulled out of the event due to a right wrist injury sustained in a victory on Tuesday.
Jodar, No. 47 in the world, will face seventh-seeded Cameron Norrie of Great Britain, who beat Ethan Quinn 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Serbian qualifier Hamad Medjedovic upset third-seeded Alex de Minaur of Australia 6-3, 6-4, and will take on Portugal's Nuno Borges, who defeated Argentina's Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 7-6 (4).
--Field Level Media
