American second seed Taylor Fritz stepped up his Wimbledon preparations as he swept aside Frenchman Quentin Halys with a 6-3, 7-6(6) victory to advance into the Stuttgart Open quarterfinals on Wednesday.
The world number seven banged down 12 aces and struck 32 winners in the one hour and 23 minute contest.
The 27-year-old, a twice quarterfinalist at Wimbledon, will next face Hungarian Marton Fucsovics at the ATP 250 event. Fucsovics beat France’s Arthur Rinderknech 7-6(4), 6-3 to book a place in the quarters.
American third seed Ben Shelton also prevailed against Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert 7-6(4), 7-5 in 50 minutes to move into the quarters.
The 22-year-old world number 12 will next take on either Czech eighth seed Jiri Lehecka or German Jan-Lennard Struff.
“I’m really happy. Happy to get my first win here in Stuttgart,” Shelton said.
“I thought I played great in the big moments today down the stretch and I’m just really happy to be back on the grass competing. It’s a completely different game, playing on this surface and hopefully I can get better and better as this week goes.”
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com