Eight-time ATP Tour champion Andrey Rublev battled past Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6 (7-2) 5-7 6-2 in a hard-fought match to set up a quarter final match against Rafael Nadal at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters.
Bautista Agut entered the match with a 3-2 lead in his head-to-head matches against Rublev and beat his Russian opponent in their most recent head-to-head matches.
Bautista Agut went up a 3-0 lead with a break in the second game. Rublev saved a break point to hold serve after two deuces before breaking serve in the seventh game to draw level to 4-4. Rublev earned two break points in the ninth game, but he did not convert them. Rublev broke serve in the 11th game, but he was not able to serve out the first set. Rublev got three mini-breaks to win the tie-break 7-2.
Bautista Agut raced out to a 4-1 lead with two breaks in the first an dfifth games in the second set, but Rublev pulled both breaks back to win four consecutive games for 5-4. Bautista Agut won the final three games, including a break in the 11th game to close out the second set 7-5.
Rublev earned an early break in the first game to take a 2-0 lead. Bautista Agut broke back in the fifth game at deuce, but Rublev broke for the second time in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead and saved a break point to hold serve after three deuces in the seventh game. He served out at love in the eighth game.
Rublev won the ATP 500 title in Rotterdam and reached three semifinals in Miami, Dubai and Doha.
Rublev will face 11-time Monte-Carlo champion Rafael Nadal, who leads 2-0 in their previous two head-to-head matches in the quarter final of the 2017 US Open in New York and in a round robin match of the Nitto ATP Finals in London.
Casper Ruud edged past Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6 (7-4) 5-7 7-5 to set up a quarter final against defending champion Fabio Fognini.
Ruud got an early break in the second game to open up a 3-0 lead in the first set. Carreno Busta broke back to love in the ninth game. Carreno Busta got a mini-break to take a 3-2 lead. Ruud won five of the next six points, including three mini-breaks, to clinch the tie-break 7-4. Carreno Busta saved three break points to hold serve after four deuces for 4-3 in the seventh game and broke serve in the 12th game to win the second set 7-5.
Carreno Busta converted his second break point in the second game to open up a 3-0 lead. The Spaniard saved a break point in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead. Ruud rallied from 3-5 down by breaking twice in the ninth and eleventh games to clinch the third set 7-5.
Ruud leads 2-0 in in his two head-to-head matches against his next opponent Fognini.