Almaty Open: Zhukayev moves into quarter-finals as Machac retires

Kazakh wildcard Beibit Zhukayev advanced to the last eight of the Almaty Open when No 5 seed Tomas Machac retired at Almaty Arena on Thursday.

Zhukayev, ranked No 213, led 3-1 when Machac, ranked No 25, pulled out at Almaty Arena due to illness. This is the first top 50 win for the Kazakh and also the first time he has advanced to the quarter-finals of an ATP Tour event.

The Kazakh will play the winner of the match between Russian Karen Khachanov, the No 3 seed, and Finn Otto Virtanen next.

Zhukayev won against Lebanese qualifier Benjamin Hassan (6-4, 6-1) earlier in the week.

In the previous round of the tournament, Machac beat Kazakh wildcard Timofey Skatov (6-3, 6-4). The Czech was looking to make his third consecutive quarter-final on the tour after semi-final finishes in Tokyo and Shanghai.

Almaty ATP 250, other second-round matches (Almaty Arena, hard, USD 1,036,700):

• Alexander Shevchenko beat Aslan Karatsev (Q): 6-1, 6-7 (5), 7-5
• Alejandro Tabilo (2) beat Maximilian Marterer: 6-2, 6-4
• Gabriel Diallo beat Borna Coric: 7-6 (1), 6-4
• Francisco Cerundolo (4) beat Justin Engel (WC): 6-4, 7-6 (3)
• Frances Tiafoe vs. Daniel Evans
• Aleksandar Vukic vs. Adrian Mannarino
• Karen Khachanov vs. Otto Virtanen