Chennai: Fourth seed David Goffin of Belgium became the first player to enter the men's singles quarterfinals at the Chennai Open tennis tournament by getting past Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania here today.
Goffin, ranked 22, had to bring in his experience especially in the tie breaker of the deciding before winning 6-0 4-6 7-6 (1) to advance in the USD 450,000 event.
In a match on the side court, eighth seed Gilles Muller (ranked 47) of Luxemburg put paid to the aspirations of 18 year-old Elias Ymer, a Swedish player of Ethiopian descent, by scoring a 6-4 6-3 win 70 minutes.
In the quarterfinals, Goffin will take on top seed Stanislas Wawrinka or Borna Coric of Croatia while Muller awaits winner of the match between Jiri Vesely or Andrea Haider Maure.
Goffin was the favourite to win the match but Berankis upped his game in the second set and forced Goffin to remain too far beyond the baseline.
Though Berankis broke Goffin in the first game, the Belgian tightened his grip and was methodical in winning his service games. But the first game loss proved vital eventually as Berankis closed out the set to level the match.
As the match drifted to the decider, it was evident that the winner could be decided only in the tie break.
In the tie break, Goffin brought his experience into play and sealed the match.
In the other match, Ymer, who caused a major upset yesterday disposing off 84th ranked Ignor Sijsling of the Netherlands, failed miserably against Muller. His booming serves too deserted him.
In a doubles match on the side court, India's Purav Raja and his Canadian partner Adil Shamasdin had an easy time against Slovakia's Aljaz Bedene and Dammir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina. They won 6-1 6-2 in just 51 minutes.
