Daniel Evans snapped a six-match losing streak on Thursday when he overcame Australian Alexei Popyrin 6-1, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals of the Grand Prix Hassan II.

Making his second appearance at the ATP 250 clay-court event in Marrakech, Evans dictated the baseline exchanges in the heavy conditions. He found great depth on his groundstrokes and saved both break points he faced to advance after 76 minutes.

“It was a tough match. I played well,” Evans said. “I haven’t won for a few tournaments, so it was important to win again. I enjoyed the match and it was good fun. I really like Marrakech, that is why I came back.”

The second seed Evans now leads Popyrin 3-0 in their ATP Head2Head series and will next face Andrea Vavassori or Jaume Munar.

In other action, Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor moved past Elias Ymer 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 to advance to his third quarter-final of the year. The 26-year-old, who triumphed in Pune in January, will next meet Roberto Carballes Baena.

Christopher O’Connell also advanced, defeating third-seeded Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp 6-7(8), 6-4, 6-0. The Australian recovered from squandering a 5-0 lead in the first set to eventually advance after two hours and 43 minutes.

Dominic Thiem produced his best performance of the season on Thursday at the Millennium Estoril Open where he cruised past #NextGenATP American Ben Shelton 6-2, 6-2 to reach his first quarter-final of the year.

The Austrian earned a confidence-boosting victory against countryman Sebastian Ofner in the first round and backed that up with a dominant display against Shelton. He crushed the ball off both wings to overpower the American, earning consecutive tour-level wins for the first time since he advanced to the semi-finals in Antwerp in October.

“The higher the ball bounces the better for me. Today was great with the warm weather,” Thiem said in his on-court interview following his 63-minute win. “Not windy. The courts are pretty fast and dry and take the spin very well. It suites my game pretty good and I am excited to play the quarter-finals tomorrow.

“I am playing better and better. Just the results in the first part of the season were not there. This part of the season I love it. The European clay-court season.”

The former World No. 3 will aim to continue his run when he takes on fourth seed Roberto Bautista Agut or Quentin Halys in the last eight. Thiem is up eight spots to No. 103 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings and will crack the Top 100 again if he reaches the semi-finals in Estoril.

Thiem holds a 3-8 record for the year after Thursday’s win, which he will hope is the catalyst for improved results. The Austrian, who reached the Roland Garros final in 2018 and 2019, has historically excelled on clay. He has won 10 of his 17 tour-level crowns on the surface.

Shelton this week was making his tour-level debut on clay. The 20-year-old, currently No. 39 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, has enjoyed a standout start to the season, highlighted by his run to the quarter-finals at the Australian Open.

“He was coming up so far last year and this year with great results,” Thiem said when asked about Shelton. “It was only his second match on a clay court. I had a lot of respect going into the match, the way he serves and his athletic abilities. The balls are coming really fast, so I was trying to use my clay-court experience today and it was very good.”

Later on Thursday, Spain’s Bernabe Zapata Miralles earned a comeback victory against second seed Hubert Hurkacz, 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-2. By beating the World No. 12, Zapata Miralles scored his biggest career win by measure of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and picked up his second Top 20 victory after beating Taylor Fritz last year at Roland Garros.

Hurkacz fell short of what would have been his 27th tour-level quarter-final and his third on clay; he reached the last eight in both Monte Carlo and Madrid last season.

Zapata Miralles will meet Miomir Kecmanovic in the quarters after the Serbian cruised past Austrian Jurij Rodionov 6-0, 6-1 to continue his perfect debut week in Estoril.

The sixth seed was ruthless throughout the 64-minute encounter at the clay-court event, pulling the World No. 120 around with his dynamic shotmaking to reach his third quarter-final of the season. Kecmanovic has not lost a set in his two Estoril victories, beginning with a straight-sets win against Luca Nardi in the first round.

Carlos Alcaraz returned to the ATP Challenger Tour on Wednesday, not as a competitor, but a spectator.

The Spaniard grew up close to the host site of this week’s Murcia Challenger. After a strong ‘Sunshine Double’ in the United States, Alcaraz returned home and made an appearance at the Costa Calida Region de Murcia.

The eight-time tour-level titlist enjoyed second-round action at the Challenger 75 event and interacted with fans who were eager to meet their home favourite.

The 19-year-old Alcaraz found his professional tennis roots on the Challenger Tour before rising to the top echelons of the sport.

When Alcaraz made his Challenger debut at the Alicante Challenger in 2019, the Spaniard defeated Jannik Sinner, whom he has played six times in tour-level action, including in the semi-finals of last month’s ATP Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami.

Alcaraz made rapid Challenger Tour progress, collecting four titles before graduating to the ATP Tour, where he’s reached World No. 1 and triumphed at the 2022 US Open.

Carlos Alcaraz at the Real Murcia Club De Tenis-1919 on Wednesday. Credit: Andres Molina

Home favourites Nuno Borges and Francisco Cabral made a winning start at the Millennium Estoril Open on Wednesday. The only all-Portuguese pairing in the ATP 250 draw earned a 6-3, 7-6(3) victory against Romain Arneodo and Sam Weissborn, not facing a break point as they progessed to the quarter-finals.

Borges/Cabral will next meet Robin Haase and Philipp Oswald, who upset top seeds Hugo Nys and Andreas Mies 7-6(4), 6-1. The Dutch/Austrian team saved both points against them in the win.

Second seeds John Peers and Marcelo Melo were also knocked out on Wednesday, as Diego Hidalgo and Cristian Rodriguez scored an upset of their own with a 7-6(5), 6-7(7), 10-6 result.

Cressy/Olivetti Advance In Marrakech
Just one doubles match was completed on a rainy Wednesday at the Grand Prix Hassan II. Before play was suspended for the day, fifth seeds Maxime Cressy and Albano Olivetti defeated Petros Tsitsipas and Hendrix Jebens 6-3, 7-6(5) to advance to the quarter-finals.

In the day’s only other doubles match to take the court, Marcelo Demoliner and Andrea Vavassori led fourth-seeded Frenchmen Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin 6-4, 5-5 when play was stopped.

No doubles matches were contested on Wednesday at Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston.

Wednesday’s play at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship was cut short due to rain, with only one set completed on the red clay of Houston.

In the day’s only action at the ATP 250, Max Purcell won a 6-4 set against Daniel Altmaier in the last match of the opening round. Top seed Frances Tiafoe was set to open his campaign with a second-round match against Steve Johnson, while fourth seed John Isner was scheduled to face Gijs Brouwer.

With Wednesday’s rainout, all eight second-round matches are now on the Thursday slate, with the winner of the Purcell vs. Altmaier match set for double duty with a second match against eighth seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry.

In addition to Isner and Tiafoe, second seed Tommy Paul will also begin his tournament on Thursday against qualifier Yannick Hanfmann. Six singles matches are on tap for the Houston stadium court.

View Thursday’s Schedule

Is this the week Casper Ruud finds his form?

The Norwegian made a good start at the Millennium Estoril Open on Wednesday when he rallied past Portugal’s Joao Sousa 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals at the ATP 250 clay-court event.

“I am just happy to get the win today,” Ruud said in his on-court interview. “It was not looking good after the first set, but I managed to step up and play better and better and I think that is a good sign going into the next match.”

Ruud, who is making his debut in Estoril, entered the match holding a 5-6 record on the season after losing in the third round in Indian Wells and Miami. The top seed ensured he would not suffer another early exit against Sousa, though, raising his intensity and level as the two-hour, 15-minute match went on to improve to 4-0 in their ATP Head2Head series.

“Joao is such a nice guy,” Ruud said. “I have mixed feelings, winning against him here in Estoril. I know he is a home-crowd favourite. He is a great example of a great fighter. He really has had an influence on this tournament and the fans here.”

Ruud has now earned 100 tour-level wins on clay, capturing eight of his nine ATP Tour titles on the surface. He also reached the final at Roland Garros last year.

The World No. 5 is into the quarter-finals at a tour-level event for the first time since September when he advanced to the last eight in Seoul. He will next play Argentine Sebastian Baez after the defending champion defeated Pedro Cachin 6-4, 7-6(2).

“It will be a tough one against Baez. We have never played against each other. He is a young player. I saw him more and more the past years. He is developing well. He is a great player and won his first title here last year. He is a player to watch out for and I am going to have to be on top of my game.”

Baez enjoyed a dream run to his maiden tour-level title in Estoril last season and has looked at home once again in his two opening matches at this year’s event. After beating Radu Albot in the first round, the 22-year-old broke Cachin’s serve five times to advance after two hours and 11 minutes.

In other action, Marco Cecchinato defeated Fabio Fognini 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in an-all Italian clash. The 30-year-old Cecchinato will play third seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina or #NextGenATP Frenchman Luca Van Assche in his first quarter-final of the season.

In a clash spanning two days due to rain, Benjamin Bonzi booked his spot in the second round at the Grand Prix Hassan II Wednesday when he defeated lucky loser Alexey Vatutin 6-3, 6-3 in Marrakech.

Competing for the first time since his semi-final run in Marseille in February, the seventh-seeded Frenchman broke Vatutin five times to earn his 11th tour-level win of the season after 83 minutes.

“It was pretty tough to stop yesterday after the first set. After one night everything is different. It has been a long wait today with the courts. The key today was to focus and be ready to start the second set well,” Bonzi said. “I managed to do it and it is a good win for me after a few weeks off.”

The World 50 Bonzi, who reached the final in Pune in January, will next play Pavel Kotov. Bonzi’s match against Vatutin was the only singles clash played on Wednesday at the ATP 250 clay-court event due to rain.

Lorenzo Musetti is the top seed in Marrakech, with Daniel Evans seeded second. The Italian Musetti plays Frenchman Hugo Gaston in his opening match, while Briton Evans takes on Australian Alexei Popyrin.

“It is funny to think about when you say it.”

Until Monday, Ben Shelton was in the remarkable position of being a Top 40 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings who had never competed on red clay. Having made his bow on the surface at this week’s Millennium Estoril Open, the early signs for the #NextGenATP American have been good.

After gaining his first taste of competitive red-clay action on Monday in a doubles defeat alongside his former University of Florida Gators teammate Duarte Vale, Shelton returned on Tuesday to down Constant Lestienne in straight sets at the ATP 250 and make a winning start to his singles career on the red dirt.

“For sure, I was a bit nervous today,” Shelton told ATPTour.com after his 7-5, 7-5 win against the Frenchman. “Maybe more so than my last few matches or tournaments just because I wasn’t sure how things were going to go. It was a good nervous, it helped me focus and lock in. I always enjoy playing matches when I have a little bit of nerves.”

The American played on green clay occasionally growing up and competed at two ITF World Tennis Tour tournaments on that surface in 2021. That is the extent of his clay-court history, however, and he notes that certain differences between the red and green varieties still make his Estoril odyssey a fundamentally new experience.

“It wasn’t the surface I played on the most [growing up] but there were definitely some tournaments when I got to play on green clay,” said Shelton. “Once I got to college, there weren’t many opportunities to play on green clay because all the matches we play in college are on hard courts.

“I think the red clay is a little bit softer [than green]. I think the bounces are a little bit better. I honestly like playing on the red clay a bit more. Obviously, my game has evolved since the last time I played on green clay so that could also be one of the factors. I’ve really enjoyed so far this week playing on the red clay. I think it plays a little bit truer and obviously it’s really well kept here in Portugal.”

Perhaps it was unlikely that being confronted by a completely new surface would faze the 20-year-old. He reached the quarter-finals on debut at January’s Australian Open, during his first trip outside the United States, and has charged to a career-high No. 39 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings despite only having made his tour-level debut last July.

Shelton therefore wants to largely apply the same approach to his upcoming clay-court schedule that has brought him such success on hard courts.

“I’d say that my preparation has been pretty similar in terms of how many days I got here before the tournament, what kind of practices I’m doing,” said Shelton. “[I have done] a little bit more strategic planning with my coach about how I want to play on this surface because obviously it’s not something we’ve had to talk about before.

“I haven’t thought about [not having played on clay] much. I’m really focused on my development right now, trying to get better in each match, each day, and try to improve my game. I’m not thinking about the numbers or the rankings or what I’ve done on what surface so far.

“I think my serve is really effective on this surface with the way it bounces. And with my willingness to come to the net, I think it will be a good combo for me to get a lot of easier points.”

Just how quickly Shelton has acclimatised to the Estoril clay will be tested on Thursday in a blockbuster second-round clash against former World No. 3 Dominic Thiem. The Austrian has won 10 of his 17 tour-level titles on the surface and is a two-time finalist at the clay-court Grand Slam, Roland Garros.

Yet regardless of how Thursday’s showdown with Thiem goes, Shelton believes he has nothing to fear from an unfamiliar surface. Like much of the 20-year-old’s 2023, it is just another new experience to be enjoyed.

“It’s not challenging,” said Shelton. “I’m really enjoying seeing Portugal for the first time. The conditions are really easy here. It’s easy to get around, the beaches are beautiful… I’ve really enjoyed it so far.”