Catch up on what you might have missed in early men’s action this week at tournaments in Portugal and Munich. 

Qualifiers have strong week in Munich

Two qualifiers, Jan-Lennard Struff and Martin Klizan, have reached the semifinals in Munich. Moreover, qualifier Thomaz Bellucci and lucky loser Ricardas Berankis made the quarterfinal, and qualifier Albert Ramos defeated Lleyton Hewitt in the main draw. Struff will contest his second ATP semifinal of the year after never reaching that round before this year. He upset Feliciano Lopez and Sergiy Stakhovsky in straight sets before defeating Ricardas Berankis in three sets.

A lucky loser who was placed into the second round with a bye, Berankis had defeated Jurgen Melzer in a close three-setter that was the early match of the week. Bellucci upset Ivan Dodig and Federico Delbonis before falling to top seed Fabio Fognini.

Klizan, who was ranked in the top 30 for part of last season, has now returned to the top 90 after defeating Dudi Sela, Mikhail Youzhny, and Denis Istomin (the last two in three sets) to reach the semifinals. He faces Tommy Haas next, while Struff faces Fognini.  

Denis Istomin reaches consecutive clay quarterfinals

Going into this season, Istomin was a career 27-36 on clay in ATP main-draw competition, but this season he has reached consecutive quarterfinals on the surface. After appearing at that stage in Bucharest, he upset Philipp Kohlschreiber in three sets to start his Munich campaign. Istomin also defeated Marinko Matosevic before falling to Klizan. He is now 4-2 this season on clay after reaching only one career ATP quarterfinal on clay before this year. 

Upset of the week: Carlos Berlocq d. Milos Raonic 7-5 6-4 (Portugal Open quarterfinal)

Carlos Berlocq solved Milos Raonic for the first time after having lost two previous meetings, and he has reached the semifinals of the Portugal Open as a result. The second-seeded Raonic never seemed fully invested in the match, while Berlocq played solid clay-court tennis.

Wildcard Gastao Elias captivates home fans

This 23-year-old Portuguese wildcard has had a great three weeks of tennis. This stretch climaxed ended when he reached the quarterfinals of his home tournament at the Portugal Open as a wildcard. Elias had reached a semifinal and final in consecutive Challenger tournaments. He then defeated Filippo Volandri and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in upsets this week before falling to Victor Hanescu.

Nikolay Davydenko drops to worst ranking since 2002

Former top-five contender Nikolay Davydenko has experienced a steady career decline. At 32, after a first-round loss to Federico Delbonis in Munich, the former champion there has dropped out of the top 90. He’s just 5-9 this season and has lost four straight matches. Tje end seems nigh for the formerly great mover and talented shot-maker, who has posted sub-.500 records in the past two full seasons.