BERLIN, July 27 (Xinhua) -- The 78th-ranked Andrey Rublev upset Top-seeded Dominic Thiem in the quarterfinals of the Hamburg European Open with 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5) on Friday. His opponent in the next round would either be the third-seeded Fabio Fognini or Pablo Carreno Busta.
Before the game, Rublev has only beaten a top-10 player once. Facing the two-time French Open finalist Thiem, Rublev stayed calm and recovered from two breaks in the first set to bid a farewell to the Austrians.
Second-seeded Alexander Zverev's win against Filip Krajinovic was not a smooth sailing. He survived a scare before rallying to defeat Krajinovic 2-6, 7-5, 6-2. Zverev's rallying back cheered up his hometown crowd.
Since he exited in the first round in 2016, this was the first time he played ATP 500 tournament at home since then.