Swiss teenager Dominic Stricker’s promising tournament debut ended Thursday in the Geneva Open quarterfinals with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 loss to veteran Pablo Andujar.
The 18-year-old Stricker was up a break in the second set against the 35-year-old Andujar, who beat Roger Federer in the previous round .
Stricker, the French Open junior champion, practiced with Federer before the season in Dubai and came to Geneva with a wild-card entry and No. 419 ranking.
That ranking is set for a big move after Stricker beat top-50 players Marin Cilic and Marton Fucsovics in the first two rounds of the rain-affected clay-court event.
Another 35-year-old, Pablo Cuevas, eliminated fourth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov 7-6 (3), 6-3 to advance to the semifinals.
Third-seeded Casper Ruud struggled early before overcoming Dominik Koepfer 2-6, 6-1, 6-4. Ruud will face Andujar in the semifinals on Friday.
The last semifinal spot was to be decided in the late match between Denis Shapovalov and Laslo Djere, who each had second-round wins earlier on Thursday.
The second-seeded Shapovalov was on court for nearly 2 ½ hours to beat qualifier Marco Cecchinato 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-1. Djere finished off a rain-delayed match against sixth-seeded Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-1.
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