Doha, 8 January 2020 - Tournament's top-seed Stan Wawrinka extended his head-to-head advantage over Frenchman Jérémy Chardy to seven wins in seven encounters after posting an emphatic straight-set 6:3, 6:4 win in 1 hour and 27 mins in their round of 16 clash on Tuesday.
Unlike their last match at the US Open 2019, the 32-year-old Frenchman was unable to take a set off the three-time Grand Slam winner, who fired 12 aces en route his triumph, this time around.
With the victory, Wawrinka sets up a quarter-final clash with Slovenian Aljaz Bedene (ATP 58) who accounted for the 6-3, 7-5 defeat of Kazakhistan's Alexander Bublik in the other match of the day.
“I'm happy to start on a winning note at this tournament. Chardy is a very good player and matches against him has not always been easy. I hope to maintain the momentum and hopefully win the tournament this time around," Wawrinka, a finalist at the 2008 tournament said.
Meanwhile, eight-seed Frances Tiafoe suffered a shocking 4-6, 6-4, 4-6 defeat in the hands of Hungary's Marton Fucsovics, a qualifier, in their encounter.
This is the second time the duo will be meeting after their maiden clash at the round of 16 of the 2018 Geneva Open where Fucsovic also triumphed.
In the other matches of the day, Turkey's Cem Ilkel, a wildcard entrant, defeated Lithuania's Ricardas Berankis 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 while Serbia's Laslo Đere posted a 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 win against Italy's Lorenzo Sonego.
