Favorites make it through to quarterfinals

On the first day of the second round of the BOSS OPEN, the favorites prevailed. Only the Italian Sonego stumbled.

Lorenzo Sonego (ATP No. 41), who had eliminated his compatriot and defending champion Matteo Berrettini in the first round, was defeated by the Australian Christopher O'Connell 6-7 (5), 3-6 in just under two hours. The crux of the match was a hard-fought game in the first set, in which Sonego was unable to convert several break points. O'Connell admitted in an on-court interview that "the tie-break was also hard-fought and could have gone to him."

O'Connell will face Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in Friday's quarterfinals. The No. 4 seed from Poland struggled for nearly two and a half hours to a 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) victory over Japanese qualifier Yosuke Watanuki. On match point, the Japanese’s serving strength deserted him: after 27 aces, he served a double fault at the decisive moment of all things. "I'm glad I turned the match around," Hurkacz said after the match. "He served strong and I had problems reading his service. The court here is very fast, so it's enough to lose concentration for a few seconds."

Italian youngster Lorenzo Musetti had far fewer problems. He remained flawless in his second match at the Weissenhof, beating Frenchman Gregoire Barrere 6-3, 6-3. Musetti will meet American Frances Tiafoe in the quarterfinals, who made his German debut a success: He defeated Czech Jiri Lehecka 7-6 (2), 6-4.

Besides Jan-Lennard Struff, who will play his quarterfinal match against Tommy Paul on Thursday, there are some Germans still alive in the doubles competition. Krawietz/Pütz prevailed against the French pair Doumbia/Reboul 6-4, 7-5. Andreas Mies and his Brazilian partner Marcelo Demoliner defeated the French-Spanish pairing Olivetti/Hernandez 7-6 (3), 6-3.