TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwanese tennis star Tseng Chun-hsin (曾俊欣) achieved a milestone at the Rio Open on Thursday (Feb. 20) , defeating Brazil's Thiago Monteiro to become the second Taiwanese player, after Lu Yen-hsun (盧彥勳), to reach the quarterfinals of an ATP 500 tournament Singles event.
Tseng faced Monteiro, ranked 99rd globally, in a grueling match. Despite losing the first set 6-7 after a tiebreaker, Tseng adjusted his strategy in the second set, breaking Monteiro's serve twice to level the match at 6-3. The final set saw both players locked in a tight contest, culminating in a tiebreaker where Tseng triumphed 7-6, ending the 3.5-hour battle.
Earlier this week, Tseng secured his spot in the main draw of the ATP 500-level Rio Open. In the first round, he defeated third seed Alejandro Tabilo of Chile, ranked 28rd in the world, with a score of 6-2, 7-5, advancing to the round of 16. Tseng's performance in Rio has sparked hopes of his return to the top 100 in the global rankings.
Tseng will compete with fifth seed Sebastian Baez of Argentina, ranked 33rd in the world, in the quarterfinals.