Casper Ruud advances to National Bank Open quarterfinals
MONTREAL (AP) — Fourth-seeded Casper Ruud of Norway advanced to the National Bank Open quarterfinals Thursday, beating No. 14 Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-4.
Ruud is the highest seed left in the singles draw after No. 1 Daniil Medvedev, No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz and No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas dropped out Wednesday.
Rudd held off Agut after a mid-afternoon thunderstorm delayed play for just over an hour.
“It was a tough battle. The first two sets were 2 hours and 20 minutes,” Rudd said. “Good intensity and I was feeling it a bit in the legs. Luckily, there was some rain, which gave me some time to breath out and regain some energy. I can thank the weather gods today, giving me some extra time and energy.”
Ruud will face sixth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime, the 22-year-old from Montreal who beat Britain’s Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-4. Auger-Aliassime had 22 aces.
“That was a very convincing win,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I served really well but I felt like I was also putting a lot of pressure on him at every opportunity that I had.”
Eighth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz of Poland also advanced, ousting Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-7 (6), 6-2, 7-6 (3). Nick Kyrgios beat fellow Australian Alex de Minaur 6-2, 6-3.
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Gael Monfils, the No. 17 seed from France, retired early in the second set of his match against British qualifier Jack Draper. Monfils, who trailed 6-2, 0-2, received treatment on his right ankle area but couldn’t continue.
In the night session, Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain beat seventh-seeded Jannik Sinner of Italy 6-2, 6-4.