Gael Monfils, Mischa Zverev and Philipp Kohlschreiber beaten in Germany
Thursday 4 May 2017 19:53, UK
Top seed Gael Monfils and two-time champion Philipp Kohlschreiber were the high-profile exits at the BMW Open in Munich on Thursday.
On a day when four of the top six seeds all fell to defeat, it was the departure of France's world no 16 Monfils that captured most of the headlines.
Making his return to action having been out since Indian Wells with knee and Achilles injuries, Monfils was up against Korea's Hyeon Chung who beat Alexander Zverev and Kohlschreiber on his way to the Barcelona quarter-finals last week.
And the 20-year-old from Korea proved too strong for a rusty Monfils who never got his powerful all-court game going, crashing to a 6-2 6-4 second round defeat.
Next up for Chung will be Martin Klizan who ended the home fans hopes of an all-Zverev final with a dominant 6-2 6-1 victory over sixth seed Mischa Zverev. Alexander is back in action on Friday when he faces Jan-Lennard Struff in the last eight.
Fifth seed Kohlschreiber was the third seed to falter in Munich, the two-time champion and last year's runner-up went down to a surprise 7-6 6-4 defeat to Argentina's Horacio Zeballos in the opening match of the day
Next up for Zeballos will be fellow Argentinean Guido Pella who beat fourth seed Fabio Fognini 6-3 6-2 to ensure all four seeds in action on the day crashed out of the tournament.
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In Turkey, at the Istanbul Open, fourth seed Paolo Lorenzi was the highest profile exit, crashing out at the hands of Serbia's world no 153 Laslo Djere who booked his place in the quarter-final with a 6-4 6-3 victory.
Djere, 21, was given a special exemption after reaching the semi-final in Budapest last week and he continued his fine form to set up a last eight meeting with fifth seed Viktor Troicki, who beat Russia's rising star Karen Khachanov 6-4 7-6 in Thursday's final match.
Argentina's in-form Diego Schwartzmann is the defending champion and he was another winner on Thursday.
The third seed dropped just four games on his way to a 6-1 6-3 triumph over Australia's Jordan Thompson and he will face Dusan Lajovic in the last eight.
The Serb needed three sets to upset Russia's Mikhail Youzhny, battling back from losing the first set for a 3-6 6-0 6-3 triumph.
It is a different story in Portugal where the week's third stop on the ATP Tour is the Estoril Open and the top four seeds have all safely made it through to the last eight.
Third seed Gilles Muller remained on course for a second title of the year with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Portuguese wild card Pedro Sousa and he will next face Japan's Taro Daniel or America's Bjorn Fratangelo.
David Ferrer has not enjoyed the best of years but he ended the hopes of another home favourite by beating Frederico Ferreira Silva in straight sets to reach his first quarter-final of 2017.
Next up for the 35-year-old veteran is Ryan Harrison who was awarded a walkover victory over Juan Martin Del Potro who withdrew from their scheduled second round match following the death of his grandfather.
You can follow the ATP Masters 1000 Series next week on Sky Sports when we will have the Madrid Open covered across all our platforms, beginning on Monday from 11am on Sky Sports 3
