Men’s $6k PSA Challenger, 18-22 Jun, Challans, France
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All eight seeds progressed into the Open International Vendée Squash quarter-finals, though fifth seed Joshua Phinera and sixth seed Manuel Paquemar both did things the hard way.
After watching fellow Frenchman Macéo Levy beat Germany’s Finn Koch in the opening match of round two, Phinera stepped on court to play Argentina’s Robertino Pezzota, a player ranked outside the world’s top 400.
But two games in, the fifth seed found himself staring down the barrel of defeat after losing each of the first two games on a tiebreak, only to keep himself alive by winning a tiebreak of his own in game three.
Games four and five were almost as close, but the Frenchman – 19 years his opponent’s junior – made his youthful advantage count in the end, taking them 11-9, 11-8 to secure a last-eight berth.
Paquemar’s win over compatriot Matteo Carrouget later in the day followed a similar pattern, as the 19-year-old won games one and two before Paquemar turned things around, clinching the next three games 11-8, 11-9, 11-9 to advance.