Wild card Bu Yuncchaokete produced the greatest upset of the Hangzhou Open so far when he ousted the second seed from Russia, Karen Khachanov 7-6(7) 4-6 6-3 securing his memorable victory after two-hours and 27-minutes of intense play to reach the last eight of an ATP 250 event, for the first time in his career, only the sixth Chinese player to reach a quarter-final since the game went open.
World ranked 124, Bu hit 13 aces and saved three break points on his way to the win and the delight of the home crowd.
“I feel really comfortable. All my friends and my people who (are) close to me, were in here (to) support me, also my coach, my team,” a delighted Bu said. “So, of course, I feel really comfortable. I love (it) here. I know the surface, everything here. So, I love this feeling.”
In other action fourth seed Brandon Nakashima of the US saved two match points as he also battled his way past Coleman Wong of Hong Kong 6-7(7) 7-6(4) 6-1 make the last eight.
Nakashima, currently ranked 39 in the world, held his nerve to save two match points as he served at 6-5 down in the second set but he then overcame his opponent hitting 39 winners in the two-hours and 40-minutes contest.
Nakashima advanced to his 14th Tour quarter-final where he will face Australian Rinky Hijikata who progressed after Fabian Marozsan conceded the match a day earlier to sickness.
In an all-Kazakhstan match, Mikael Kukushkin defeated Alexander Shevchenko 6-4 7-6(3)’
The 36-year-old, a former world 39, converted three of his five break point chances to reach his first quarter-final in four years, where he will face Bu.
