One year ago, #NextGenATP Norwegian Casper Ruud fell short in the second round of qualifying at Roland Garros. But this week, Ruud is only one step away from playing in the main draw at Roland Garros for the first time. The 19-year-old beat Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan 6-2, 6-4 to reach the third and final round of qualifying.

Earlier this year, Ruud qualified and picked up his maiden Grand Slam win at the Australian Open before falling to Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman in the second round.

“It’s been two good matches, four good sets, I haven’t dropped one yet. It was a big test today, especially the last one,” Ruud told RolandGarros.com. “I felt it was almost over when I had 4-1 and a double break. But he fought back and played some good points but I also stepped up my level at the end.”

Ruud will next meet Frenchman Alexandre Muller, who beat #NextGenATP Aussie Akira Santillan 6-1, 3-6, 6-0. Spain’s Jaume Munar ended the run of 17-year-old Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in a #NextGenATP showdown 6-3, 6-3. Munar will face #NextGenATP Korean Duckhee Lee for a spot in the main draw. Lee swept Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego 6-3, 6-4.

Aussie Bernard Tomic beat #NextGenATP Brit Jay Clarke 6-3, 6-1, but Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis fell to Estonia’s Jurgen Zopp 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-2. Tomic will next face 23-year-old Goncalo Oliveira of Portugal. Zopp will play seventh seed Denis Kudla of the U.S., who beat 19-year-old Frenchman Geoffrey Blancaneaux 6-2, 6-1.

Nothing quite like returning home to make you feel good, is there? Swiss Stan Wawrinka reached his fourth consecutive Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open quarter-final on Wednesday, beating American Jared Donaldson 6-3, 6-4 in 68 minutes.

Wawrinka, who endured two knee surgeries last August, controlled the second-round contest, never facing a break point and twice breaking Donaldson, who reached his maiden ATP World Tour semi-final in March (l. to Anderson) at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, an ATP World Tour 500 event.

“I’m happy with my match today. I felt good out there. This will be the first time in a while that I play back-to-back matches. I like to play in front of the Swiss crowd and the fans have always given me great support here,” Wawrinka said.

Wawrinka had lost his clay-court season debut to Steve Johnson of the U.S. at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome last week, but he looked fresh and agile as he attacked the 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier. The 33-year-old right-hander improved to 4-5 on the year and 10-1 in Geneva. He will next meet Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics, who beat #NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe 7-6(5), 6-4.

Second seed Fabio Fognini, a Rome quarter-finalist a week ago, came back to beat Noah Rubin of the U.S. 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-2.

“It’s always tough to start from the second round and play your first match…He was playing good,” Fognini said. “I’m happy because tomorrow I have another chance to play here, quarter-final and try to improve my game.”

Italy’s No. 1 will next meet Tennys Sandgren of the U.S., who defeated Mirza Basic of Bosnia and Herzegovina 6-3, 6-2. Seventh seed Italian Andreas Seppi also advanced, dismissing Spanish qualifier Bernabe Zapata Miralles 7-5, 6-3. Seppi will next face Peter Gojowczyk of Germany.

#NextGenATP American Taylor Fritz picked up his second win of the season against compatriot Jack Sock, No. 15 in the ATP Rankings, to reach the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon quarter-finals on Wednesday. Fritz hit eight aces and swept the third-seeded Sock 7-6(6), 6-2 in 92 minutes.

The 20-year-old Fritz also beat Sock at the clay-court Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship last month en route to his second ATP World Tour semi-final. Fritz is in fourth place in the ATP Race To Milan, which will determine seven of the eight players who compete at the Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held 6-10 November in Milan. The eighth player will be determined by an all-Italian qualifying tournament.

Fritz will look to reach his third ATP World Tour semi-final on Thursday when he faces Serbian Dusan Lajovic. The Mutua Madrid Open quarter-finalist (l. to Anderson) beat qualifier Filip Horansky 6-4, 7-5 to notch his 10th tour-level match win this season.

Second seed John Isner overcame a tough second-round challenge to battle past Radu Albot 7-6(3), 6-3. The Miami Open presented by Itaú champion saved a set point at 5-6 (30/40) in the first set, before taking a one-set lead and clinching the only break of the second set to advance after one hour and 37 minutes. The 33-year-old now leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head series with Albot 2-1, having split their two previous encounters in the U.S. earlier this year. 

Isner will face Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie in the quarter-finals. The 22-year-old won 83 per cent of first-service points to defeat Germany’s Maximilian Marterer 6-1, 6-4 in 61 minutes.

Did You Know?
This week, Isner is bidding to reach his fourth ATP World Tour final on clay. The American won his only clay-court title at the 2013 Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship (d. Almagro) after finishing as runner-up in 2012 (l. to Monaco). Isner reached his first final on clay in 2010, losing to countryman Sam Querrey in Belgrade.

#NextGenATP American Reilly Opelka moved to within two wins of qualifying for Roland Garros for the first time on Tuesday. The 20-year-old right-hander beat Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor 7-5, 6-3 to advance to the second round of qualifying.

Opelka won his first clay-court title on Sunday at the BNP Paribas Primrose, an ATP Challenger Tour tournament in Bordeaux, France. He lost in the final round of Roland Garros qualifying last year. The 6’10” Opelka will next meet 25-year-old Jozef Kovalik of Slovakia, who beat 30^th seed Alexey Vatutin of Russia 2-6, 6-1, 6-3.

Latvian Ernests Gulbis, who beat Roger Federer en route to the 2014 Roland Garros semi-finals (l. to Djokovic), also advanced on a rain-shortened day of qualifying in Paris. Gulbis beat French veteran Stephane Robert 7-5, 6-4.

“Last week gave me some confidence, making the semis in Bordeaux [l. to Opelka], so maybe now I can show some better tennis in the majors again,” Gulbis told RolandGarros.com.

Sixth seed Rogerio Dutra Silva of Brazil beat Christian Garin of Chile 7-6(6), 6-4; 28^th seed Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland beat American Bradley Klahn 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-4; and Spanish veteran Tommy Robredo, who captured his first title at any level in five years on Sunday at the Lisboa Belem Open, an ATP Challenger Tour event, fell to 20^th seed Simone Bolelli of Italy 6-4, 6-4.