ATP Tour

Bellucci sets potential Fritz clash in Stuttgart, Bublik advances

Mattia Bellucci advanced to his first ATP Tour quarter-final on grass on Wednesday at the BOSS OPEN, where he awaits an intriguing clash with defending champion Taylor Fritz or #NextGenATP star Martin Landaluce.

The No. 78 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Bellucci overcame Yannick Hanfmann 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-2 in the second round of the ATP 250 event. The Italian dropped just six points on serve in the final set, according to Infosys ATP Stats, en route to his fifth quarter-final.

“I’m very happy about my win today. I think I played an even better match than the first round,” said Bellucci, who upset seventh seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in his Stuttgart opener. “I think Yannick played outstanding tennis, especially in the second set, but I was a little bit more composed at the beginning of the third.”

With his two-hour, 29-minute victory, Bellucci has set a quarter-final meeting with Fritz or Landaluce. The 20-year-old Landaluce defeated Bellucci in the third round of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome last month and has defeated the Italian three times across ATP Challenger events.

“I wouldn’t prefer either of them because I lost to Landaluce four times in a row, and I haven’t played Fritz, but he is an amazing opponent," Bellucci said. “I will just focus on myself and try to do the best I can. I’m very happy with the week until this moment.”

Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard also secured a second-round win on Wednesday before rain delayed play. The Frenchman hit 21 aces in his 7-6(1), 6-2 victory over Gauthier Onclin and will next meet Alexander Bublik.

Bublik opened his account in Stuttgart with some quick revenge: He defeated Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-2 to avenge the four-set loss he suffered to the German in the first round of Roland Garros two weeks ago.