Second seed Danil Medvedev cruised past Emil Ruusuvuori 6-3 6-2 after 1 hour and 15 minutes to advance to his ninth quarter finals of the season at the Astana Open, an ATP 500 Tournament.
Medvedev converted four of his nine break points. The Russian player broke twice in the first and ninth games to take a 6-3 lead. He built up a 6-3 2-0 lead with a break at the start of the second set. Ruusuvuoori broke back in the third game, as Medvedev missed a forehand passing shot wide. Medvedev earned his second break, as Ruusuvuori ended a long rally with a backhand into the net.
Medvedev set up a quarter final against Roberto Bautista Agut, who leads 4-1 in his previous five head-to-head matches. The Spaniard achieved three of his wins in straight sets. Medvedev won his only match against Bautista Agut in Halle last June.
“To be honest he is just a great player, always close to top 10. I feel like he is a little bit more shaky in the Grand Slam later stages because I don’t see why he is not in the top 5 from time to time. I am happy that I managed to beat once this year. This can give me a little bit of feedback on what I have to do to beat him and that’s what I am going to try to do tomorrow”, said Medvedev.
Medvedev is on a collision course for a possible blockbuster semifinal clash against Novak Djokovic, who beat Dutchman Botic Van de Zandschulp 6-3 6-1 to reach the quarter finals in the bottom half of the draw.
Hubert Hurkacz beat Alexander Bublik 6-4 6-4. Hurkacz went up a double break to take a 4-1 lead. Bublik pulled back a break back in the sixth game. Hurkacz saved two break points to hold serve in the eighth game and and served out the first set on his second set point. Hurkacz broke serve in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. Bublik saved three break points in a six-deuce fifth game. Hurkacz held his final three service games without facing any break points.
