Shapovalov sets up Rublev clash, Paire into last eight

Denis Shapovalov and Benoit Paire moved into the Winston-Salem Open quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Shapovalov, the second seed at the ATP 250 tournament, was untroubled by Miomir Kecmanovic in a 6-2 6-3 victory in a rain-hit North Carolina.

The 20-year-old Canadian broke serve five times in a dominant display, moving into the last eight.

He will face another talented youngster in Andrey Rublev, who edged past 2009 runner-up Sam Querrey 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (12-10).

Though rain delayed the start of of play Denis Shapovalov takes out Miomir Kecmanovic 6-2, 6-3 and is through to the quarterfinals on Thursday.

He faces the winner of Querrey/Rubelv. pic.twitter.com/8uISOtqIM6

— Winston-Salem Open (@WSOpen) August 22, 2019

Russian 21-year-old Rublev, who stunned Roger Federer in Cincinnati last week, needed one hour, 51 minutes to get past the American sixth seed.

Paire, the top seed, overcame French compatriot Ugo Humbert 3-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-3.

Next up for Paire is Pablo Carreno Busta after the Spanish 11th seed beat Lorenzo Sonego 7-6 (9-7) 6-0.

Hubert Hurkacz and Frances Tiafoe will also meet in the quarter-finals after they benefitted from retirements.

Hurkacz led Feliciano Lopez 6-3 3-1 when the Spaniard retired, while Tiafoe is yet to complete a match this week, having taken the first set against Filip Krajinovic 6-2 when the Serbian eighth seed retired.

Last year’s runner-up Steve Johnson is embarking on another run after a 6-2 7-6 (7-5) win over Casper Ruud, with the American to meet John Millman following the Australian 14th seed’s 6-3 6-4 victory over Robin Haase.