ATP Tour

Popyrin spoils Fritz's return, Ruud continues impressive Geneva record

Alexei Popyrin ensured Taylor Fritz did not have the perfect return to Tour on Wednesday at the Gonet Geneva Open, where he overcame the top seed 6-4, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals in Switzerland.

Fritz was competing for the first time since his fourth-round exit to Jiri Lehecka in Miami in March and looked a little rusty throughout his 84-minute encounter with Popyrin. The Australian Popyrin struck 25 winners, according to Infosys ATP Stats, and was the more consistent in the baseline exchanges to triumph.

Popyrin defeated Matteo Berrettini and Jakub Mensik to reach the third round in Rome, where he lost to eventual champion Jannik Sinner, who completed the Career Golden Masters. The No. 61 player in the PIF ATP Rankings has built on that form in Geneva, also defeating Clement Tabur.

“I am very happy,” Popyrin said. “I am glad to be playing this level finally this year. As I think everyone knows, it has been a tough year for me. So playing this level a week before a Slam is always a great feeling.”

With his first Top 10 win of the season and 14th in his career, Popyrin set a quarter-final clash against three-time Geneva champion Casper Ruud.

Ruud moved past Belgian Raphael Collignon 7-6(2), 6-2 to advance to the last eight in Geneva. The Norwegian has won seven of his past eight matches after reaching his fourth ATP Masters 1000 final in Rome on Sunday.

In other action on Wednesday, American Learner Tien overcame Greek wild card Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(4), 7-6(2). The fourth seed is into his fifth quarter-final of the season and second on clay (Houston). Mariano Navone, a champion on clay in Bucharest in April, beat third seed Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-4.

Later in the day, second seed Alexander Bublik earned his first Geneva victory by defeating Edas Butvilas 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 19 minutes. With the triumph, the 28-year-old advanced to his fourth quarter-final of the season.