SAN MARINO/STARNBERG, July 18, 2025

As dusk settled over Montecchio, the 32nd edition of the Internazionali di Tennis San Marino Open delivered its first major upset. Top seed Valentin Royer, ranked No. 110 in the world, was ousted in the second round by Slovakia’s Lukas Klein in a gritty three-set battle that lasted over two hours at the ATP Challenger 125 event, played on the red clay courts of the Centro Cassa di Risparmio.

Klein, currently No. 186 in the ATP Rankings, played with consistency and composure throughout. The Slovak Davis Cup player hung tough in the opening set, saving 0-30 while serving at 4-5 before dominating the tiebreak 7-3 with his quick, aggressive ball-striking.

Royer, who claimed back-to-back Challenger titles in Rwanda earlier this year (bringing his career total to three), responded in kind, securing a break to take the second set. But the decider was tightly contested until 4-4, when Klein – who peaked at No. 109 last year – found a timely break to seal the match and punch his ticket to the quarterfinals.

Next up for Klein is Austria’s Lukas Neumayer, the No. 7 seed, who prevailed in another three-set encounter over Paraguay’s Adolfo Daniel Vallejo. Neumayer cruised through the opening set with five consecutive games after trailing 1-2. Though he led by a break in the second set, the 22-year-old lost focus and allowed Vallejo—former junior World No. 1 and 2023 Challenger champion in San Leopoldo—to level the match.

The Austrian, however, regained control early in the third, breaking immediately and holding firm to close out the win 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 and continue his strong run on clay, where he reached five Challenger finals, most recently in Vicenza this past May.

Meanwhile, France’s Luka Pavlovic also advanced to the last eight, albeit in unfortunate circumstances. Trailing 3-6, 7-6(3), 1-1, No. 6 seed Federico Agustin Gomez was forced to retire with a right thigh injury, ending the Argentine’s tournament in both singles and doubles.

Comeback mode

Matteo Gigante turns it around against Poljicak 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 to advance to the last eight in San Marino#ATPChallenger | @federtennis pic.twitter.com/WcrWq2Z8DS

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) July 17, 2025

Results – Thursday, 17 July 2025
Singles – Round of 16

[7] Lukas Neumayer (AUT) d Adolfo Daniel Vallejo (PAR) 62 36 64
Lukas Klein (SVK) d [1] Valentin Royer (FRA) 76(4) 36 64
[3] Matteo Gigante (ITA) d [Alt] Mili Poljicak (CRO) 16 64 61
Luka Pavlovic (FRA) d [6] Federico Agustin Gomez (ARG) 36 76(3) 11 Retired

Doubles – Quarterfinal

Andrew Paulson (CZE)/Michael Vrbensky (CZE) d [2] Patrik Trhac (USA)/Marcus Willis (GBR) 75 64
[1] Karol Drzewiecki (POL)/Ray Ho (TPE) d [WC] Carlo Alberto Caniato (ITA)/Lorenzo Carboni (ITA) 60 67(5) 10-4
Milos Karol (SVK)/Vitaliy Sachko (UKR) d [4] Federico Agustin Gomez (ARG)/Luis David Martinez (VEN) Walkover
Siddhant Banthia (IND)/Alexander Donski (BUL) d Inigo Cervantes (ESP)/Daniel Rincon (ESP) 36 63 10-4