Canada’s Shapovalov surprises Fritz to reach Vienna Open quarter-finals

Canadian Denis Shapovalov is in the quarter-finals of the Vienna Open.

Shapovalov upset fourth-seeded American Taylor Fritz 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 on Wednesday in the round of 16 of the event.

It’s the seventh time the two have met, with the native of Richmond Hill, Ont., improving to 5-2 against Fritz. Fitz beat Shapovalov a few weeks ago in the semifinals of the Japan Open in Tokyo.

Shapovalov also saved two of three break points against Fritz’s two of six.

He will face Dan Evans of the United Kingdom in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Auger-Aliassime advances to the Swiss Indoors

Third-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime beat Swiss wildcard Marc-Andrea Huesler 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-4 at the Swiss Indoors earlier on Wednesday.

Auger-Aliassime will next face 28th-ranked Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic in the Round of 16 as he seeks his third consecutive title and a place in the ATP Finals.

He is currently seventh in the points race for the eight-man event, but Novak Djokovic, 10th, is assured of a place due to his victory at Wimbledon.

Meanwhile, top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the quarter-finals of the Swiss Indoors by beating Botic van de Zandchulp 6-4, 6-2 on Wednesday.

The 19-year-old Spaniard claimed victory with his only ace in a second-round match where he had 20 winners and committed just nine unforced errors.

Alcaraz’s serve was interrupted once and he led 2-0 in the second set before winning six consecutive matches against the 35th-ranked Dutchman.

At the previous edition of the Swiss Indoors, in 2019, before the tournament was canceled twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic, De Minaur lost in the final as Roger Federer won a record 10th title in the hometown event.

Lorenzo Musetti, seeded eighth, came through the first set before losing 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 to Albert Ramos-Vinolas, the 34-year-old Spaniard.

In a second-round match, Arthur Rinderknech defeated Alex Molcan 6-2, 6-4.