It will be Ben Shelton vs. Joao Fonseca for the first time in the BMW Open quarterfinals on Friday after they won their respective second-round matches on Wednesday afternoon.
Shelton advanced with a 6-4, 7-6(8) victory over rising star Alexander Blockx. The sixth-ranked American fought off two set points in the second while getting across the finish line in one hour and 46 minutes.
Shelton is defending runner-up points in Munich after losing to Alexander Zverev in last year’s final.
Shelton’s result was preceded by Fonseca’s 6-3, 6-2 rout of Arthur Rinderknech. It was a rematch of last week in Monte-Carlo, where the 19-year-old Brazilian survived a tight three-setter. This one was far more routine, although Fonseca held serve from 0-40 down once in each of the two sets.
“That was a super important key for today,” Fonseca said of the clutch holds. “I was pretty focused on today’s match; I knew it was going to be difficult. He’s already a great player, and here at altitude he can play very good tennis…. He’s full of weapons, so I needed to be very focused.”
Fabian Marozsan also advanced on Wednesday, winning his darkness-delayed match against Stefanos Tsitsipas 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4.