By Chris Oddo | Wednesday October 18, 2017
Nick Kyrgios fell to Belgium's Ruben Bemelmans in his first match at Antwerp.
Photo Source: European Open
Third-seeded wild card Nick Kyrgios was bounced from the European Open draw by hometown favorite Ruben Bemelmans, 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-3.
The 29-year-old World No.98 saved five of six break points and snapped a nine-match losing streak against the Top 20. He will advance to face Joao Sousa in the quarterfinals. Sousa came back from a set down to defeat Sergiy Stakhovsky, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
Bemelmans has reached his third career quarterfinal and has never been beyond. He lost to Dustin Brown in the Montpellier quarterfinal in 2016 and fell to Lukas Rosol in the Vienna quarterfinals in 2013.
Julien Benneteau also reached the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Henri Laaksonen. Steve Darcis reached the second round when Cedric Marcel-Stebe retired after a game in the third set. The Belgian will face fifth-seeded David Ferrer in the second round.