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11/02/2024 01:32:11 pm

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Valencia Open 500: Tomas Berdych Bows Out; Feliciano Lopez Loses in All-Spanish Encounter

Tommy Robredo defeated Chinese Taipei’s Yen-Hsun Lu to reach the quarterfinals of the Valencia Open 500 in Spain

(Photo : atpworldtour.com)

Second seeded Tomas Berdych bowed out of the tournament while fourth seeded Feliciano Lopez lost an all-Spanish encounter against Pablo Carreno Busta at the Valencia Open 500 in Spain on Wednesday.

The recent If Stockholm Open champion got off to a slow start in the first set against Pablo Andujar as he can't seem to control the Spaniard's spin serves, converting only 16 percent of returns that led to a couple of break points and eventual loss of the set.

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The 28-year-old Andujar continued his assault in the second set as he quickly broke the Czech early, followed it up with another late break in the set and served out the for match 6-3 6-2 that lasted an hour and 12 minutes.

"I am very happy," said Andujar. "I think it was a very special match for me, here in Valencia, with my friends and family cheering for me. I tried to be as solid as I could, then when I had the chance I attempted to hit it as hard as I could. If I just put the ball in, he would destroy me."

Andujar will next face Serbian Dusan Lajovic in the second round.

Fourth seeded Lopez also had a heart-breaking loss against fellow compatriot and wild card entry Busta 6-4 6-4.

Both players started off exchanging breaks but Busta came out on top with another service break to take the first set.

Busta, 23, continued his momentum in the second set as he broke Lopez mid-way and eventually served out for the match and advance to the quarterfinals.

Another Spaniard has made it into the quarters, Tommy Robredo, who also reached the quarterfinals in last week's Kremlin Cup where he was defeated by eventual champion Marin Cilic an defeated fifth seeded American John Isner in the first round.

Robredo broke Chinese Taipei's Yen-Hsun Lu twice in the first set and had an exchange of breaks in the second set before he broke Lu a second time to claim the win 6-2 6-4.

Next up for Robredo is the winner of the matchup between Andujar and Lajovic.

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