With his back against the wall, Arthur Rinderknech survived on Thursday at the Tel Aviv Watergen Open to reach the quarter-finals at the ATP 250 event. The Frenchman saved one match point en route to a 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(7) win against third seed Diego Schwartzman in Israel.

In a tight first meeting between the pair, the 27-year-old held his nerve in the third-set tie-break. The World No. 58 saved one match point on Schwartzman’s serve at 6/7, before eventually converting his second match point to advance after two hours and 38 minutes.

Rinderknech, who enjoyed a run to the quarter-finals in Metz last week, will next play Roman Safiullin.

British qualifier Liam Broady continued his strong run, upsetting fifth seed Botic van de Zandschulp 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to set a meeting with second seed Marin Cilic. The 28-year-old is up 25 spots to No. 149 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings after advancing to his first tour-level quarter-final of the season.

Constant Lestienne also advanced, eliminating Finn Emil Ruusuvuori 6-4, 6-2. The Frenchman is into his second quarter-final in as many weeks after enjoying a run to the last eight on home soil in Metz.

#NextGenATP Dane Holger Rune showed his fighting qualities at the Sofia Open Thursday, earning a comeback win against Lorenzo Sonego to reach his sixth tour-level quarter-final of the season.

In a hard-fought clash, the 19-year-old rallied past the Italian 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-3 in two hours and 19 minutes at the ATP 250 hard-court event.

“I feel very good,” Rune said in his on-court interview. “Today was a tough match… Lorenzo won a title last week, so he had a lot of confidence. I took my chances, played well and stayed in the moment, so I am proud.”

The fifth seed struck 38 winners and won 85 per cent (44/52) of his first-serve points against Sonego, who won the his third tour-level title in Metz last week. Rune will continue his quest for a second tour-level title when plays Ilya Ivashka in the last eight.

The Dane is fourth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Milan as he looks to qualify for the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals for a second consecutive year. Rune has enjoyed a breakthrough season, highlighted by his maiden tour-level trophy in Munich in May.

German qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff also booked his spot in the last eight, dispatching French qualifier Ugo Humbert 6-3, 6-1. Struff, who is making his third appearance in Sofia, will next play Lorenzo Musetti as he seeks to reach his first tour-level semi-final of the season.

Pole Kamil Majchrzak upset eighth seed Oscar Otte 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 to advance to his third tour-level quarter-final of the year. The 26-year-old will next take on second-seeded Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta or Swiss Marc-Andrea Huesler.

Casper Ruud on Thursday qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals for the second consecutive year, joining Spaniards Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz in the eight-player field. The season finale will be played from 13-20 November in Turin.

“I just got the news that I qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin again this year and I’m so much looking forward to coming back to Italy,” Ruud said. “I had such a great time last year, it’s a great country for tennis.”

Ruud guaranteed his spot in the year-end championships by winning his second-round match in Seoul against Nicolas Jarry. After making his breakthrough in 2021, Ruud has elevated his game to new heights this season.

The 23-year-old has tallied 47 tour-level wins, third on the ATP Tour behind only Alcaraz (52) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (49). He is at a career-high No. 2 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, the highest standing of any Norwegian in history (since 1973).

Ruud advanced to his first ATP Masters 1000 final in Miami and his maiden major championship match at Roland Garros. He also claimed ATP 250 trophies in Buenos Aires, Geneva and Gstaad. The 23-year-old then reached his second major final at the US Open.

Ruud made his Nitto ATP Finals debut last year at the Pala Alpitour. The Norwegian advanced to the semi-finals with victories against Cameron Norrie and Andrey Rublev before falling to 2020 champion Daniil Medvedev.

Second seed Cameron Norrie made a winning start at the Eugene Korea Open Tennis Championships on Thursday, cruising past Japanese wild card Kaichi Uchida 6-2, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals in Seoul.

In a strong serving display, the Briton fired eight aces and did not face a break point en route to his 63-minute victory. Norrie has now advanced to 11 tour-level quarter-finals this season, holding a 46-23 record on the year.

“It feels great. Especially to wake up early this morning as I was a bit let lagged. It was nice to get up early and get it done in straight sets,” Norrie said. “I felt that the conditions suited me well. It was pretty hot, so I like that. It was a tough match but I was able to win some close games and get a couple of breaks each set, so it was a good day for me overall.”

The 27-year-old is currently 11th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin. The four-time tour-level titlist will be aiming for a deep run at the ATP 250 hard-court event as he looks to boost his chances of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held in Turin from 13-20 November.

Norrie will next face eighth seed Jenson Brooksby after the American downed South Korean Soonwoo Kwon 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 33 minutes.

Brooksby is seeking his maiden tour-level title this week in Seoul, having enjoyed runs to the final in Dallas and Atlanta earlier this season. The 21-year-old is up four places to No. 42 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings following his 24th tour-level win of the year.

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In other action, American lucky loser Aleksandar Kovacevic continued his dream run, eliminating #NextGenATP star Chun-Hsin Tseng 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 6-2.

The 24-year-old Kovacevic, who is making his tour-level debut this week, will play countryman Mackenzie McDonald in the quarter-finals. McDonald cruised past Japan’s Shintaro Mochizuki 6-3, 6-4 in 90 minutes.