ATP Tour

Marozsan upsets Ruud, Mpetshi Perricard saves MP in Auckland

Fabian Marozsan caused more Auckland pain for Casper Ruud on Wednesday at the ASB Classic, where the Hungarian earned his 10th Top 20 win to reach the quarter-finals.

Marozsan defeated defending champion Gael Monfils in the first round and backed that up with an impressive 6-4, 6-4 win against second seed Ruud. This marks the third opening-round defeat Ruud has suffered in four appearances at the ATP 250 event in Auckland.

Marozsan now leads the Norwegian 2-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. Into his 10th tour-level quarter-final, the Hungarian Marozsan will next meet Eliot Spizzirri.

In other action, Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard saved one match point en route to defeating British lefty Cameron Norrie 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4). The 22-year-old fended off the danger on serve at 4-5 30/40 in the third set, eventually prevailing to reach his second consecutive ATP Tour quarter-final of the new season.

He will next play third seed Jakub Mensik, who beat Serbian Hamad Medjedovic 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.

Top seed Ben Shelton opened his season with a 7-5, 6-4 win against Francisco Comesana. The American, competing for the first time since he made his debut at the Nitto ATP Finals in November, saved all six break points he faced against Comesana, according to Infosys ATP Stats, and now holds a perfect 12-0 record against Argentines.

Shelton is playing in Auckland for the fourth consecutive year, with his best result to date a semi-final showing in 2024. The No. 8 player in the PIF ATP Rankings will hope to maintain his impressive record against Argentines when he meets the red-hot Sebastian Baez in the quarter-finals.

Baez improved to 5-0 on the new season after cruising past Jenson Brooksby 7-5, 6-0. The 25-year-old downed Taylor Fritz at the United Cup last week to earn his second Top 10 win and will look to notch another victory of a similar nature against Shelton, who leads Baez 1-0 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

Luciano Darderi and Spizzirri were also winners on Wednesday in Auckland. Darderi beat Alejandro Tabilo 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 to earn his first win since October, while Spizzirri eliminated Nuno Borges 7-6(6), 6-4.