Daniil Medvedev surged into the quarter-finals of Indian Wells by beating Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 6-4.
Medvedev, who is playing in only his third tournament of the season, finished runner-up to Carlos Alcaraz 12 months ago at Indian Wells, which is seen by many as tennis’ unofficial fifth major.
The Russian will face Denmark’s Holger Rune or USA’s Taylor Fritz in the last eight.
“It’s not easy for everyone to play here, especially this year because they changed the balls and it’s even tougher to control it,” said Medvedev.
“It’s tricky and also when it’s windy and the sand comes on the court, it feels like it’s 10 times faster.
“I’m trying my best and I’m happy to beat a great opponent. I played well and was really consistent.”
The opening four games were shared before Dimitrov crumbled on serve as a double fault handed Medvedev the decisive break in the first set.
Medvedev had three set points at 5-3 but failed to take them before managing to hold serve and win the opening set in 36 minutes.
It looked like this year’s Australian Open runner-up was going to take an easy win when he broke in the third game of the second set but Dimitrov showed some fighting spirit by breaking back.
However, unforced errors began to reappear in Dimitrov’s game and he was broken again with a double fault proving costly again as Medvedev went 4-3 up and this time the Russian held serve to win in straight sets.
Ruud ends Monfils’ run
Elsewhere, Casper Ruud ended Frenchman Gael Monfils’ run at Indian Wells with a marathon 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 victory and will face Tommy Paul in the quarters after the American brought lucky loser Luca Nardi back down to earth with a straight sets win
After struggling to put winners past the athletic Monfils in the opening set, the ninth-seeded Norwegian became more aggressive in a tight second set and rolled through the tiebreak.
Ruud finally broke his 37-year-old opponent for a 3-1 lead in the deciding set and cruised to the finish.
“I felt physically good and ready,” said Ruud, who is yet to win an ATP Masters event.
“Really tough second set, it fortunately went my way. I saved a few break points there and was clutch enough in the tiebreak.”
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Tommy Paul advances to the Indian Wells quarter-finals after beating Luca Nardi 6-4 6-3
A nice moment came when Monfils walked to the service line trailing 3-5 in the third and the crowd rose to their feet to cheer on the fan favourite, who smiled widely and waved his racket in appreciation before holding serve.
After pulling off a stunning victory over world No 1 Novak Djokovic on Monday, Nardi was served a dose of reality by Paul, who hit five aces and never dropped serve on route to a business-like 6-4 6-3 win.
The 20-year-old Italian called his win over his idol Djokovic in the prior round a “miracle” but his luck ran out against hometown hero Paul, who has won just one match in five meetings with Ruud.
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