Casper Ruud advances to National Bank Open quarterfinals

Montreal, Aug. 12 (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.