1st leg champion, Calvin Hemery of France, eased into the quarter-finals of the second leg on Thursday, following an impressive straight-sets victory over Courtney Lock of Zimbabwe.
Hemery, who’s of Nigerian descent, made light work of the Zimbabwean to register a 6-0, 6-1 victory in 47 minutes, powering down 9 aces in the process.
The 24-year-old, ranked as high as 116 in the world in April 2018, has now stretched his winning run to seven matches without surrendering a set in any of them.
To remain on course for back-to-back titles in Lagos, the Frenchman will take on Courtney’s brother, Benjamin Lock, who’s seeded second, in the quarter-finals on Friday.
Benjamin Lock was just as impressive in his straight sets win over India’s Dhruv Sunish. The Zimbabwean, registering a 6-2, 6-0 victory in just under an hour.
Elsewhere, the tournament’s top seed, Skander Mansouri got knocked out by France’s Gianni Mina in straights. Mina, who lost to the Tunisian in the first round of the first leg last week, exacted revenge in 78 minutes to claim a 7-6, 6-2 victory.
Mina, who’s surely brimming with confidence now, will take on 2015 finalist, Takanyi Garanganga in Friday’s quarter-final. Garanganga was rock-solid against Michael-John Every of Curacao, winning 6-2, 6-3.
2015 champion, Aldin Setkic, who finished as runner-up last week, dismissed Tristan Meraut 6-2, 6-0 and will next play David Pichler as he looks to stay on track in his bid for a 28th ITF title. It will be a repeat of their semifinal clash last week, which Setkic won in three sets.
Tunisia’s Aziz Dougaz, who’s seeded No. 3, beat Thomas Setdoji of France 6-3, 6-2 to set up a quarter-final meet with his unseeded countryman, Aziz Ouakaa, who claimed a 6-2, 6-4 victory over America’s William Bushamuka.