#NextGen stars Borna Coric and Nick Kyrgios will clash at the Millennium Estoril Open after both won their second-round matches on Wednesday. Coric, the sixth seed, took out Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, while the second-seeded Kyrgios overcame Inigo Cervantes 7-6(4), 7-5.

“It will be an enjoyable match for sure,” said Coric of the upcoming clash against the World No. 20. “[Kyrgios] is the favourite so I have nothing to lose. But I’ll never come into a match with the mindset that I can’t win. I’ll do my best but I’ll be there to win.”

“It’s going to be a tough match,” Kyrgios said. “[Coric] has been playing well.”

Coric, No. 40 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, overcame the loss of the second set to defeat his Brazilian opponent in two hours and eight minutes. The 19 year old improved to 13-11 on the year.

“In the first set I was playing high to his backhand, and it worked perfectly,” Coric said. “In the second set, I was a bit more defensive and he surprised me with his good play. I didn’t feel like I could hurt him.

“[Adjusting] my court position was key. Automatically my shots became more aggressive when I stepped in. In the third set, I was more offensive.”

Kyrgios, who turned 21 on Wednesday, gave himself the gift of a quarter-final berth with a straight-set win over Spaniard Cervantes in the pair’s first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting. The 2015 finalist served well, landing 75 per cent of first serves and hitting nine aces.

After the match, he was surprised by tournaments organisers, who brought out a cake and showed a tribute video featuring several close friends. “It’s one of the best presents I’ve ever received,” Kyrgios said.

Britain’s Kyle Edmund, the other #NextGen player in the Estoril draw, was eliminated by Frenchman Benoit Paire 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3.

Home Team Advances In Doubles

Portuguese Gastao Elias and Joao Sousa made a winning start at their home tournament by downing Rogerio Dutra Silva and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 6-0 in under one hour. Elias/Sousa hit five aces and saved all three break points faced. In the quarter-finals, they will face top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcin Matkowski.

Second seeds Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi cruised to a 6-2, 6-3 victory against Italians Thomas Fabbiano and Paolo Lorenzi. Huey/Mirnyi, who teamed to win in Acapulco in February, improved to 17-7 on the year.

Day Four Preview

Second round action concludes on Thursday at the Millennium Estoril Open as top seed Gilles Simon, No. 4 seed and Portugal’s top player Joao Sousa and No. 7 seed Leonardo Mayer attempt to reach the quarter-finals.

In the first match on Estadio Millennium, Japanese No. 2 Taro Daniel looks for his first win against Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta, who has won five previous Futures meetings and one Challenger match, all in Spain between 2010-14. Daniel is attempting to reach his second career ATP World Tour quarter-final, the first since Vina del Mar in February 2014 as a qualifier. Carreno Busta is trying to advance to his fourth ATP World Tour clay court quarter-final of the season. In February, he reached his maiden ATP World Tour final in Sao Paulo (l. to Cuevas).

In the second match on, another Spaniard, Nicolas Almagro, squares off with Sousa for the first time. Almagro is trying to even his match record this season (8-9) and advance to his second quarter-final of the year. In February, he was runner-up in Buenos Aires (l. to Thiem). Sousa comes in ranked No. 34, just one spot off his career-high set on Nov. 9 last year. The 27-year-old Portuguese native is looking to advance to his first quarter-final of the season. He has an overall match record of 5-12 (1-3 on clay).

In the third match on, Simon and countryman Paul-Henri Mathieu meet for the fifth time. Mathieu has won three of the previous four meetings, including their only clay match in the 2R at Roland Garros in 2007. Simon, one of five Frenchmen in the Top 25 Emirates ATP Rankings at No. 18, comes in with an 11-8 match record on the season (3-1 on clay). His best result is the quarter-finals at ATP Masters 1000 Miami (l. to Goffin). Mathieu is aiming to reach his third ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season, the second this month after a quarter-final showing in Marrakech. The 34-year-old Frenchman is 8-7 this season (3-3 on clay).

In the final match on, Mayer and Lorenzi meet for the first time on the ATP World Tour although they met twice in South American clay court Challenger finals in 2012 with each player winning once. Lorenzi won the Medellin, Colombia title in three sets before Mayer avenged the loss the following week in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Mayer is attempting to reach his second ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season, the first since the opening week in Doha. Lorenzi is eyeing his fourth quarter-final of the year, the second in as many weeks (Bucharest). The 34-year-old Italian has a 12-7 record on clay this season.