Hong Kong Open: Rublev battles past Broady and into quarters

Top seed Andrey Rublev had to work harder than expected as he beat qualifier Liam Broady 6-4, 7-6 (8) to move into the last eight of the Hong Kong Open at the Victoria Park Tennis Stadium in Hong Kong on Thursday.

Rublev, ranked No 5, will play Frenchman Arthur Fils, the No 8 seed, next. Broady broke early in the second set and served for the set, but couldn’t close it out, Rublev saving three set points as he got the job done in the end.

Broady, ranked No 108, won against Argentinian Pedro Cachin (6-4, 6-0) in the previous round of the Hong Kong tournament.

Hong Kong ATP 250, other second-round results (Victoria Park Tennis Stadium, hard, USD 661.585, most recent results first):

• Arthur Fils beat Marc-Andrea Huesler (Q): 7-5, 7-5
• Roberto Bautista Agut beat Francisco Cerundolo (4): 7-5, 6-3
• Sebastian Ofner beat Jan-Lennard Struff (5): 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2)
• Pavel Kotov beat Lorenzo Musetti (6): 6-4, 6-3
• Emil Ruusuvuori beat Karen Khachanov (2): 7-6 (2), 2-6, 6-2
• Frances Tiafoe (3) beat Miomir Kecmanovic: 6-3, 7-6 (4)
• Juncheng Shang (WC) beat Botic van de Zandschulp: 6-7 (5), 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2)