Max Purcell has pulled off the largest victory of his profession, defeating world No.7 Casper Ruud within the second spherical of the Cincinnati Open.
But Australian No.1 Alex de Minaur’s run on the ATP Masters 1000 occasion is over after he crashed out at 7-5 6-4 the arms of 36-year-old Frenchman Gael Monfils.
In solely his third profession assembly with a top-10 participant, Purcell surprised an opponent who has reached three of the final six grand slam finals.
His 6-4 3-6 6-4 victory got here in slightly below two hours, and takes the Sydneysider’s run to seven wins in eight matches during the last two weeks.
Purcell was exterior the world’s prime 200 a yr in the past, and seen primarily as a doubles participant, however he rocketed up the singles rankings early in 2023 with a powerful spell on the Asian circuit.
Despite disappointing leads to the European clay-court swing, and on grass, when he was hampered by an ankle damage, Purcell has stayed within the prime 80 since May and is now looking for to push on within the north American hardcourt season.
Norway’s fifth-seed Ruud is ranked 63 locations above Purcell, however encountered stiff resistance within the pair’s first assembly on the tour since Ruud received 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 in US Open qualifying 5 years in the past.
In the final 16 Purcell will face three-time grand-slam champion Stan Wawrinka, who beat tenth seed Frances Tiafoe 6-3 6-4.
The day’s second huge shock got here with a 6-4 7-6 (7-4) win for Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic over world No.6 Jannik Sinner.
The Italian earned his first Masters 1000 title days in the past in Toronto, beating De Minaur within the ultimate, however was unable to maintain the momentum alive, failing to transform any of the 5 break-point probabilities he had throughout the match.
Having dispatched De Minaur, Monfils will meet No.2 seed Novak Djokovic, whose second-round opponent Alejandro Davidovich Fokina was pressured to retire with a again damage having misplaced the primary set 6-4.
“He brings so much joy to the fans, so much entertainment,” Djokovic stated of Monfils.
“He’s one of the most charismatic players we’ve had in the last two decades on tour and he’s playing better than ever.”
Already within the third spherical is Alexei Popyrin, who progressed on a walkover after opponent Nicolas Jarry withdrew to return to Chile for the delivery of his second youngster.
Popyrin will tackle Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori for a spot within the quarter-final.
Former champion Daniil Medvedev beat Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti 6-3 6-2 in an error-riddled match.
“We both made some mistakes, we both made some double faults and stuff like this,” third seed Medvedev, who served 5 double faults, stated.
“But I managed to be a little bit better in the important moments.”
There have been victories for US gamers Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz, who defeated Ugo Humbert and Lorenzo Sonego respectively.
Alexander Zverev additionally progressed, beating Yoshihito Nishioka 7-5 6-4, whereas Australian Open finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas dropped solely three first-serve factors on his technique to a 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-2) win over Ben Shelton.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
