Australians Alex de Minaur and Bernard Tomic captured straight-set victories Thursday to advance into a quarter-final meeting at the ATP Atlanta Open.
Third-seeded de Minaur dispatched American Bradley Klahn 6-4, 6-4, after only 67 minutes, dropping only two points on his first serve without facing a break point in the match.
The world No 34 booked a first-ever ATP matchup Friday against 106th-rated compatriot Tomic, who eliminated Aussie Matthew Ebden 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).
Tomic seeks his fifth ATP title after wins last year at Chengdu, 2014 and 2015 in Colombia Open and 2013 in Sydney.
De Minaur seeks a second title after hoisting his first in January at Sydney after losing there in the 2018 final.
The winner of the Aussie showdown will face either Britain’s Daniel Evans or American Reilly Opelka in the semi-finals.
In other second-round matches Thursday, US second seed Taylor Fritz beat countryman Kevin King 6-2, 6-3 and French eighth seed Ugo Humbert lost to Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic 6-2, 6-2.
Results
2nd rd
Bernard Tomic (AUS) bt Matthew Ebden (AUS) 6-4, 7-6 (7/3)
Alex de Minaur (AUS x3) bt Bradley Klahn (USA) 6-4, 6-4
Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB) bt Ugo Humbert (FRA x8) 6-2, 6-2
Taylor Fritz (USA x2) bt Kevin King (USA) 6-2, 6-3
