ESTORIL: Croatian hope Borna Coric had to go the two-hour distance to reach the quarter-finals of the Estoril Open on Wednesday as he held off a charge from Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.
The sixth-seeded teenager duplicated his showing from a year ago on his debut when he moved into the last eight.
Coric, 19, looked like winning in straight sets against a 101-ranked Brazilian opponent, but he lost his way as he dropped serve to trail 4-5 in the second set after earning the first.
Dutra Silva levelled at a set each but faded in the third as Coric roared back to stake his claim on victory through five aces and the same number of service breaks.
Coric stands just 13-11 this season despite finals in Chennai and Marrakech and will wait for an opponent as second seed Nick Kyrgios makes his 2016 birthday debut in Portugal.
The controversial Australian, who turned 21 on the day, was starting in the second round after a bye, facing Spain's Inigo Cervantes.
The match will be a test for the 20th-ranked Kyrgios, who has not competed since April 1, when he fell to Kei Nishikori in a Miami semi-final.
Kyrgios will be making a late clay start after pulling up injured and spending recent weeks at home in Canberra.
The 2015 Estoril finalist returns to this seaside resort outside of Lisbon after winning the first trophy of his career last February in Marseille.
The 58th-ranked Cervantes has a Sao Paulo semi-final to his credit this season but has yet to break even, standing 9-11.
Kyrgios will be looking for his 15th victory of the year.
Spanish wild card Fernando Verdasco, who replaced injured Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, made only a token 58-minute showing as he lost his first-round match to eighth seed Pablo Carreno Busta 6-1, 6-3.
Verdasco, ranked 51st after once standing inside the ATP top 10, only arrived on Tuesday after winning a rain-delayed final in Bucharest on Monday for the seventh title of his career.
"Conditions here were difficult and Pablo put me under a lot of pressure. I did what I could but it would have been tough for me to win today," the Spaniard said.
"When you are not at 100 per cent and are facing a good player, these things can happen. Coming here so late after the final did not help me."
Spain's fifth seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez advanced into the quarters as he defeated Stephane Robert of France 6-3, 7-6 (7/3).
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