Defending champion Thiem in Argentina Open quarters, Spain’s Ferrer out

Defending champion Dominic Thiem of Austria advanced to the Argentina Open quarterfinals after the top seeded defeated Germany’s Maximilian Marterer 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday.

Thiem, the favorite to retain the title, continued his sweeping pace in Buenos Aires and stretched to 10 wins his unbeaten streak by ousting Marterer in the Central Court Guillermo Vilas.

The Austrian, who has won the titles of 2016 and 2018, will meet Pablo Cuevas in the next round after the Uruguayan beat Portugal’s Joao Sousa a 6-4, 7-5 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Argentina Open ATP 250 Tournament.

“I like the conditions here. I was able to develop a good performance to win it,” Thiem said in his post-match remarks.

About his next clash with Cuevas, he said, “He is one of the best players in clay. We already played at Roland Garros and a Master 1000. So I am expecting an open match.”

In another match on Thursday, Argentine Diego Schwartzman pulled off a hard-fought 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 win against Slovenia’s Aljaz Bedene to set up a next-round clash with 96th-ranked Albert Ramos of Spain.

Ramos defeated fellow Spaniard David Ferrer , ranked 149th in the world, 3-6, 7-6 (9), 6-3 in a match that lasted two hours and 29 minutes.

Three-time champion Ferrer, who has announced that he will retire from professional tennis after the Madrid Open in May, got an emotional farewell after the 36-year-old’s last participation in the tournament.

The quarterfinal matches are scheduled to take place Friday.

The 19th edition of the clay court tournament is being held at the legendary Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club.

The event began on Saturday with the rankings and the final will take place on Sunday.

In 18 years, only four Argentine players have been able to win the tournament: Guillermo Coria (2004), Gaston Gaudio (2005), Juan Monaco (2007) and David Nalbandian (2008).

Meanwhile, Spaniards have had much more success at the event having won it 9 times: David Ferrer (2012, 2013 y 2014), Carlos Moya (2003 y 2006), Tommy Robredo (2009), Juan Carlos Ferrero (2010), Nicolas Almagro (2011) and Rafael Nadal (2015).