Holger Rune beat Sebastian Baez 7-6 (7-2) 6-1 to reach the quarter finals at the Swiss Open in Basel.
Rune has boosted his chances to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, especially after nint placed Taylor Fritz and 11th placed Casper Ruud lost their matches against Alexander Schevchenko and Dominic Stricker respectively.
Rune saved the only break point he faced in the second game of the opening set to hold serve. Both players went on serve en route to the tie-break. Rune earned three mini-breaks to win the tie-break 7-2.
Rune earned his first break in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. The Danish player broke for the second time in the sixth game and served out the win on his first match point.
Rune has improved his record in Basel to 6-1 after reaching the final last year.
Rune was watched by his new coach Boris Becker from the stands.
“It was difficult in the first set. I think he was serving well. I was struggling a little bit to find the rhythm on the return, but I stayed there. I kept my focus on my own serve and managed to raise my level in the tie-break. From there, I played some better tennis”, said Rune.
Defending champion Felix Auger Aliassime broke serve four times in his 6-4 6-2 win over Botic Van de Zandschulp. The Canadian player earned his first break in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead. Van de Zandschulp converted his third break-back point to close the gap to 4-5. Auger Aliassime sealed the first set with his second break in the 10th game.
Auger Aliassime went up a break in the second game after two deuces to open up a 3-0 lead. He sealed the win with a double break on his third match point.
Auger Aliassime has advanced to the quarter final without losing more than four games in a set.
Swiss Next Gen Dominic Stricker upset last year’s Nitto ATP Finals Casper Ruud 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-1) to reach the quarter final for the first time.
Stricker hit 13 aces and 31 forehand winners and converted just one of the 12 break points. The Swiss player will be aiming will be aiming to reach his first ATP Tour level semifinal outside the Next Gen Finals when he takes on Hugo Humbert.
Stricker earned his first break in the fifth game of the second set to win the first set 6-4. Ruud saved four break points after seven deuces to take a 3-2 lead. The Norwegian player broke serve in the eighth game to close out the second set 6-3. Stricker saved three break points in the first game of the third set to hold serve. Both players held on their serve en route to the tie-break. Stricker earned three mini-breaks to win the tie-break 7-3.
Alexander Schevchenko saved two match points to beat Taylor Fritz 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-5). Schevchenko fended off all 15 break points he faced. Neither player earned a single break point in the whole match. Schevchenko saved eight break points in the second set and seven more chances in the third set. Fritz came back from 1-6 down to win the tie-break of the first set 9-7. In the second tie-break both players traded mini-breaks twice. Schevchenko closed out the tie-break on his third set point. Schevchenko fended off two match points in the 12th game to draw level to 6-6 forcing the match to the tie-break. The Russian player sealed the win with his only mini-break on his first match point.
