Casper Ruud beats Matteo Berrettini 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 in an hour and 39 minutes
Fourth seed sets up last-eight clash against Aleksandar Vukic
Taylor Fritz defeats Nuno Borges 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) to tee up all-American meeting with Sebastian Korda
Casper Ruud cruised into the quarter-finals of the Japan Open with a straight-sets win over Matteo Berrettini.
The fourth seed won 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 in an hour and 39 minutes to set up a last-eight clash against Aleksandar Vukic in Tokyo.
Both players were strong on serve in the opening set, with Berrettini conceding the only break point in the set before the tie-break.
Although Ruud failed to capitalise on that opportunity to break, he went on to clinch the tie-break with his third set point.
There was no looking back for Ruud after that as he raced to a 5-1 lead in the second, breaking Berrettini twice, before booking his spot in the next round from his first match point.
Elsewhere, Taylor Fritz beat Nuno Borges 7-5 7-6 (7-4) on his way to the quarter-finals of the competition.
After both players failed to win their opening service games, Fritz managed to avoid a tie-break by breaking again in the 12th game of the opener.
However, despite having two opportunities to do the same in the second set, Fritz had to battle through a nervy tie-break in order to secure the win, which tees up an all-American meeting with Sebastian Korda.
Data Debrief: Ruud haunts Berrettini again
Berrettini looked in the mood to cause an upset against Ruud, with the Italian serving 12 aces, but the Norwegian won 36 of his 42 first-serve points on his way to victory.
Ruud has now beaten Berrettini in six of their nine career meetings, including four of the last five matchups since 2022.
