Yanaki Milev qualified for the quarterfinals of the clay tournament of the „Challenger 50“ series in Palermo, Italy, with a prize fund of 56,700 euros.
The Bulgarian, who went through the qualifications with two victories, recorded a second success in the main draw. Milev defeated the 8th seed Bouvaisar Gadamauri from Belgium, who is ranked 271st in the world, with 6:2, 7:6(5).
The match lasted an hour and 53 minutes.
Milev started strongly and after a 2:2 draw, he won four consecutive games to close the first set with a convincing 6:2.
The second half offered far more intrigue. The Bulgarian tennis player fell behind by 2:5, but showed character and managed to equalize, and later even take the lead by 6:5. The set went to a tiebreak, in which Milev kept his composure and after two consecutive points at 5:5 he reached the final success.
With his victory, the Bulgarian guarantees himself 11 points for the world ranking, in which he occupies No. 619 this week.
For a place in the semifinals, Milev will face the winner of the match between the second seeded Lorenzo Giustino from Italy and Carlos Sanchez Hover from Spain.