Victory in 58 minutes
ÖTV youngster shines and storms into the quarter-finals
Game, set and match Joel Schwärzler! The 18-year-old from Vorarlberg beat the Turkish number two seed Ergi Kirkin 6:2, 6:1 in just 58 minutes in the round of 16 of the ATP Challenger in Skopje, not only making it to the quarter-finals but also breaking into the top 600 of the ATP world rankings for the first time.
After Schwärzler had struggled for a long time against the Uzbek Sergej Fomin in the North Macedonian capital at the start, even having to fend off a match point, but still coming off the clay court as the winner in the end, he left no doubt from the start against Ergi Kirkin as to who was the boss on the court.
Short process with world number 258
The ÖTV contract player was able to take the service from his 25-year-old opponent for the first time in the third game. Schwärzler then acted confidently and was not even in danger of having to surrender his serve. After a further break to make it 4:1, the Harder player confidently played the first set home after just 27 minutes of play.
Birthday present for coach Melzer
His performance in the second set was even more commanding: although Kirkin, ranked 258th in the current ATP world rankings and therefore 406 places ahead of Schwärzler, managed to get his service through to 1:0, it was to remain his only game. After three breaks, Joel used his second match point to win 6:2, 6:1 after just 58 minutes of play, giving his coach and Jürgen Melzer a special "present" for his 43rd birthday.
Top 600 and Andrew Paulson await
This puts him in his third Challenger quarter-final after Mauthausen and Tallahassee (US), where the 22-year-old Czech Andrew Paulson (ATP No. 156) now awaits. Regardless of the outcome of this match, Schwärzler's chances of breaking into the top 600 of the world rankings for the first time in his career are very good. He is currently ranked 599th in the live rankings.
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