AUGSBURG/STARNBERG, August 21, 2025
With nearly a three-hour delay due to heavy rain, quarterfinal action finally got underway on Thursday at the Schwaben Open by Great2Stay, featuring four German singles players. Davis Cup representatives Cedrik-Marcel Stebe and Henri Squire advanced comfortably to the semifinals of the ATP Challenger Tour 50 event in Augsburg, which offers a total prize pool of €54,000. Meanwhile, second seed Christoph Negritu kept his hopes alive for the last four after his match was suspended at one set apiece.
Squire dismantles Dedura’s conqueror – Stebe cruises through
For World No. 660 Stebe, the day’s workload was far lighter than yesterday’s dramatic three-set battle against Belgian Gadamauri. Facing Czech qualifier Matyas Cerny, the 34-year-old from Mühlacker found his rhythm immediately, dictating play from the baseline with consistency and control. He blanked his opponent in the opening set and raced to a 2-0 lead in the second. From there, fatigue caught up with Cerny, who had endured a grueling three-and-a-half-hour win over countryman Paroulek the day before. After a medical timeout and a brief attempt to continue, the 23-year-old was forced to retire, handing Stebe a 6-0, 3-1 victory in just 55 minutes.
Negritu keeps semifinal hopes alive
World No. 272 Negritu had the advantage of planning for his quarterfinal since yesterday, while his opponent still had unfinished business. Swiss Alexander Ritschard had seen his match against German junior Max Schoenhaus suspended the previous evening. He returned to court, surrendered a quick second set without winning a game, but edged the teenager in a deciding tiebreak 7-6(4), 0-6, 7-6(3).
Buoyed by that escape, the No. 8 seed Ritschard struck first against Negritu, breaking early to take the opening set. In the second, Negritu turned the tables with a break of his own. Serving to level the match, the second seed was pegged back by another late break but responded immediately to close out the set. With the score tied at one set all, fading light forced play to be postponed until Friday.
Sanchez Martinez’s run comes to an end
Qualifier Benito Sanchez Martinez had put together an impressive run with four straight-set wins, but his momentum was halted by World No. 290 Zdenek Kolar. The Czech’s pace and aggression proved too much, racing to a 3-0 lead before Sanchez Martinez briefly clawed back a break. From there, however, he was unable to add another game, dropping the opener 6–1. Kolář maintained full control in the second, sealing a decisive 6–1, 6–1 win after just over an hour. He will now meet Stebe in the semifinals.
Squire shines against Sanchez Izquierdo
After grinding past Argentina’s Torres and Spain’s Montes-de la Torre in three-set battles, World No. 435 Henri Squire faced another clay-court specialist in Nikolas Sanchez Izquierdo, who had eliminated German youngster Diego Dedura in the previous round. The 24-year-old from Düsseldorf imposed himself early with big serves and clean groundstrokes, breaking for 4-3 and again to seal the set.
The second set followed a similar pattern. Leading 5-3, the Tennis Channel Bundesliga player for Gladbacher HTC was made to sweat, saving four break points and missing two match balls before firing back-to-back aces to clinch a commanding 6-3, 6-3 victory in 96 minutes.
“I was very calm and focused today, just doing my thing,” said Squire. “As we know, closing out the final game is always the toughest part, and it got tricky there at the end. But I felt I was clearly the better player throughout and put in a really strong performance. Hopefully I can play just as well in the semifinal.”
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