:Alejandro Davidovich Fokina battled back from a third set deficit on Thursday to beat Casper Ruud 7-6(4) 4-6 7-6(4) and deny the third seed a place in the Canadian Open quarter-finals.
Ruud was two points away from victory at 5-3 30-0 in Toronto before Davidovich Fokina served his way out of trouble. Still leading 5-4, the Norwegian had a chance to seal the match but was unable to do so, badly shanking a shot on break point to give new life to his opponent.Both players held serve to send the contest to a tiebreak as the match crossed the three-hour mark.
Ruud dug himself into an early hole in the breaker with some tentative serving and poor forehands and Davidovich Fokina claimed the win with a drop shot. "When I broke at 5-4, that gave me like a shot of tequila," the Spaniard said.
Up next for Davidovich Fokina is American Mackenzie McDonald, who reached his first quarter-final of a Masters 1000 tournament by dispatching Canadian Milos Raonic 6-3 6-3.