Molcan masters Altmaier, Shapovalov awaits
In the bottom half of the draw, qualifier Alex Molcan continued his impressive run at the BMW Open by Bitpanda with his fourth consecutive win this week. The 28-year-old Slovak edged home favorite Daniel Altmaier 6-4, 7-6 (10).
Molcan withstood six aces and broke Altmaier’s serve once to prevail in one hour and 43 minutes.
“It means everything. I cannot be happier or prouder of myself that I have reached the quarterfinals here,” Molcan said.
The world No. 166, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 38 in May 2022, endured a difficult period marked by wrist and knee injuries that both required surgery two years ago. Since then, the left-hander has mainly competed on the ATP Challenger Tour and ITF World Tennis Tour, winning five titles across those circuits last season.
“It’s been a long time since I played at this level. I don’t want to say that I am back, but it’s great to feel the emotions and the crowd again. Competing against the best players and even winning matches motivates me a lot,” Molcan said.
“We both served well and I only broke him once in the first set. It was not easy to return. I had to fight mentally in the tie-break because it was so close. I saved two set points and, in the end, I am just happy.”
Molcan will next face Denis Shapovalov of Canada, who beat Fabian Marozsan from Hungary 7-6(4), 6-2 in one hour and 25 minutes to reach his first quarterfinal on clay since the 2022 Rome Masters.
