Swiss Indoors: Stricker strikes again, defeating Ruud in third set tiebreak

Dominic Stricker edged out Norwegian Casper Ruud, the second seed, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (1) to reach the quarter-finals of the Swiss Indoors at the Halle Saint-Jacques in Basel on Thursday evening.

With memories of his five set victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas at the 2023 US Open still clearly fresh in his mind, world No 96 Stricker pulled off yet another impressive top 10 win, this time going the distance against Ruud in Basel.

The wildcard relied on his powerful groundstroke game, blasting 52 winners across the course of the three sets. In a match that lasted just short of two and a half hours, both men were tested on serve, with Ruud saving 11/12 break points.

Stricker, ranked No 96, will face Frenchman Ugo Humbert next. The 21-year-old Swiss won against Lebanese qualifier Benjamin Hassan (7-6 (2), 6-2) ahead of his victory.

In the previous round of the Basel tournament, Ruud, ranked No 8, defeated Kazakh Alexander Bublik (7-6 (5), 6-2).

Basel ATP500, other second-round results (Halle Saint-Jacques, EUR 2.196.000, most recent results first):

• Botic van de Zandschulp vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime
• Holger Rune vs. Sebastian Baez
• Ugo Humbert beat Nicolas Jarry (7): 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4)
• Alexander Shevchenko (Q) beat Taylor Fritz (3): 6-7 (7), 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5)
• Tallon Griekspoor beat Alex De Minaur (5): 6-4, 6-3
• Tomas Martin Etcheverry beat Andy Murray: 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2
• Hubert Hurkacz (4) beat Jan-Lennard Struff: 6-1, 6-4