ATP: Stuttgart: Marterer retired as last German

Maximilian Marterer from Nuremberg was the last of seven Germans to start in the ATP tournament in Stuttgart to be eliminated in the round of 16. The 22-year-old lost to Australian Nick Kyrgios 4:6, 6:4, 3:6 and thus missed the third quarter-final of his career on the ATP Tour at the grass court tournament at Weissenhof.

At the French Open, the world ranking-50th failed only in the round of 16 due to the later winner Rafael Nadal (Spain). This year, Marterer had already reached the semi-finals in Munich and the quarter-finals in Sofia, Bulgaria.

For Kyrgios, the duel with Marterer was the first individual match since early April in Houston, Texas. The 24th World Rankings had to cancel at short notice for the French Open due to an elbow injury.

Record Grand Slam winner Roger Federer (Switzerland), who has returned to the tour after a two and a half month break, will meet Argentinian Guido Pella in his quarter-final on Friday. World Ranking-75th defeated qualifier Prajnesh Gunneswaran from India 7:6 (7:4), 6:3.

Federer won the only duel with Pella so far in 2016 in Wimbledon in three sets. On his way to his ninth Wimbledon title, Federer could replace French Open winner Nadal at the top of the world rankings in Stuttgart with his participation in the final.

Kyrgios will face last eight finalists Feliciano Lopez from Spain last year. The 33-year-old defeated the Frenchman Gilles Simon 7:6 (8:6), 6:4. 8th-placed Lopez also won the fourth duel on grass against Simon despite knee complaints.

Federer, defending champion Lucas Pouille from France and Uzbek Denis Istomin all made it into the quarter-finals against German players on Wednesday. Federer beat the Hamburg Mischa Zverev as number one in the seed list, Pouille had no problems against 17-year-old talent Rudolf Molleker (Berlin), and Istomin beat Oldie Florian Mayer (34/Bayreuth).