HALLE, Germany - Ugo Humbert defeated Alexander Zverev in the second round of the grass-court Halle Open on Thursday to leave Andrey Rublev as the only seeded player to reach the quarter-finals.
Third seed Zverev hit 20 aces but this was not enough as Humbert won a close match 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-3.
Zverev has been runner-up twice in Halle, but has yet to win a title on grass. Humbert is in back-to-back quarterfinals on the grass after doing the same in Stuttgart last week.
The ATP said it was the first time in Halle's 28-year history that seven of the eight quarter-finalists were unseeded. Fourth-seeded Rublev is the exception after Russia defeated Jordan Thompson on Wednesday.
American player Sebastian Korda, son of former Australian Open champion Petr Korda, defeated Kei Nishikori 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 to reach the quarterfinals against Humbert. Korda won his first Tour title last month in Parma on clay and is in his first Tour-level grass tournament.
Nikoloz Basilashvili went down two set points 5-4 in the second set to register a 6-2, 7-5 win against Arthur Rinderknecht. He will play South Africa's Lloyd Harris, who defeated qualifier Lukas Lako 6-3, 7-6 (8).