Title defender Muller down; Verdasco beats young Russian

Gilles Muller will not be able to defend his title at the Libéma Open. The Luxemburger was surprisingly defeated in his first match by the Australian Matthew Ebden, 6-3 7-5.

Muller, seeded third, had a bye in the first round, but could not  live up to his status. The left-handed service volley player lost his service three times and could only break once.

In the quarter-finals Ebden will play against Romania’s Marius Copil, who defeated seventh seed Yuichi Sugita from Japan in a match that lasted over two hours, 7-5 4-6 6-4.

Fourth seed Fernando Verdasco has managed to reach the last eight. The left-handed Spaniard needed less than an hour against the Russian Daniil Medvedev in preparation for a tough match against Bernard Tomic, who has beaten Verdasco five times in a row. Earlier the 25-year-old Australian was too strong for Robin Haase in two sets, 6-3 7-5.