Mark Lajal through to ATP tournament quarter finals in Knoxville
Mark Lajal is through to the quarterfinals of the ATP Challenger 75 tournament in Knoxville, Tennessee, after overcoming local player Brandon Holt on Wednesday in two closely contested sets, 6-4, 7-6 (5).
Lajal ranks 229th in the world, just 28 spots below Holt.
Lajal broke Holt's serve early in the first set and saved multiple break points in going on to clinch it, despite Holt's strong lead in the tenth game.
In the second set, after going ahead, Lajal weathered a comeback from Holt, ultimately winning a tense tiebreaker to secure the result.
The entire encounter took a little more than an hour-and-a-half.
During that time the Estonian served up eight aces, won 84 percent of points on his first serve, and converted two out of five break points presented to him.
He faces either Nishesh Basavareddy (U.S., ATP 170th) or tournament number five seed Zachary Svajda (U.S. ATP 167th) in the quarter finals.
--
Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!
Editor: Andrew Whyte, Anders Nõmm
