Hong Kong, Jan 4 Andrey Rublev was forced to dig deep, beating qualifier Liam Broady as the top seed completed the Hong Kong Open 2024 quarterfinal line-up on Thursday night. The No. 5 in ATP Rankings fended off qualifier Liam Broady 6-4, 7-6(8) to book a tantalising last-eight clash with teenage sensation Arthur Fils, who had an enlightening week of training with 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal in the off-season.
"Before we flew here we practised the last days together," said Rublev ahead of his maiden head-to-head clash with Fils. "What can I say? He's super strong for his age, he's super powerful across the shots. I need to be really ready mentally and physically for a great battle with him," he said after the match.
Rublev had already featured in Hong Kong in two doubles matches but burst onto the singles scene with a 4-1 early advantage. Broady, keen to celebrate his 30th birthday in style, couldn't quite snatch away the opener, but a series of piercing returns and disguised ventures to the net kept Rublev off balance.
The British World No. 108 more than deserved his chance in the second set tie-break, but he couldn't convert three set points and a relieved Rublev could salute his legion of fans as the victor.
The World No. 36 Fils was forced to recalibrate and re-think his approach in a hot-shot-laden contest with Switzerland's Marc-Andrea Huesler. The Swiss qualifier raced 5-2 ahead with lasered shots before Fils found his rhythm and rattled through seven successive games with dynamic tennis for a 2-0 lead in the second set.
The contest remained finely poised until a moment of magic. Fils lunged sideways and pinged a backhand return winner down the line to break for 6-5 before the 2023 ATP Newcomer of the Year closed out a hard-fought victory.
Earlier on Thursday, Roberto Bautista Agut rolled back the years with an accomplished 7-5, 6-3 scoreline over fourth seed Francisco Cerundolo. With his rapid footwork and canny short-court angles, the former World No. 9 proved his endeavours in pre-season have paid off.
Bautista Agut's 2023 was disrupted by breaking a bone in his foot as a result of a horse-riding accident in July, prompting a three-month stint on the sidelines.
Bautista Agut will take on Austrian Sebastian Ofner on Friday in the last eight. The World No. 43 held his nerve in a scintillating 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 7-6(2) comeback against fifth seed Jan-Lennard Struff.
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