Estoril Open: Hurkacz recovers from slow start to see off Choinski

Second seed Hubert Hurkacz kicked off his clay-court season with a 7-6 (5), 6-4 win over British qualifier Jan Choinski on Thursday as he moved into the quarter-finals of the Estoril Open at Clube de Ténis do Estoril.

Hurkacz, ranked No 10, trailed 5-3 in the first set and in the tiebreak but got himself out of trouble with some fine play and will take on the winner of the match between qualifier Pablo Llamas Ruiz and lucky loser David Jorda Sanchis next.

“We actually played some doubles together in juniors,” said Hurkacz, when asked about Choinski’s Polish-German background. “I’m really happy to see him at Tour level. It was a difficult match, the first clay-court match is never easy.”

In the previous round of the Estoril tournament, Choinski, ranked No 188, edged out Brazilian wildcard Joao Fonseca (6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-4).

Estoril ATP 250, other second-round results (Clube de Ténis do Estoril, clay, EUR 579.320, most recent results first):

• Marton Fucsovics vs. Gael Monfils
• Casper Ruud vs. Botic van de Zandschulp
• Pedro Martinez vs. Roberto Bautista Agut
• Nuno Borges vs. Lorenzo Musetti
• Arthur Fils vs. Cristian Garin
• Pablo Llamas Ruiz vs. David Jorda Sanchis: thursday
• Richard Gasquet vs. Dominic Thiem: thursday