Australian wildcard Alex Bolt has caused a major upset at the Adelaide International ATP tournament, winning his way into the quarter-finals.
South Australian Bolt has toppled German seventh seed Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3 6-4 in a second-round boilover on Wednesday at Memorial Drive.
World No.157 Bolt took control early against Struff, ranked 120 places higher than the local, and never relinquished.
Bolt secures a quarter-final berth against the winner of Wednesday night’s encounter between Canada’s second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and Australia’s James Duckworth.
Earlier, sleep-deprived Russian Andrey Rublev downplayed his Australian Open chances despite his hot early-season form continuing in Adelaide.
Rublev, on three hours’ sleep, advanced to the quarter-finals with a comprehensive 6-3 6-3 second-round win against American Sam Querrey.
The world No.18 arrived in Adelaide after winning last week in Doha – his third ATP title.
Rublev’s career-high 38 ATP wins last year included inflicting the quickest loss in 15 years on Roger Federer – a 62-minute blitz in a Cincinnati clash.
But while hoping his upward curve extends deep into the Australian Open, starting Monday in Melbourne, the 22-year-old reckons he’s still well shy of joining elite company.
“It’s (an) amazing feeling to be top 20 for the first time,” Rublev said.
“There are still so many things that I can improve; there are so many things I need to improve.
“Even if I lose first round in Australian Open, I accept this … the main goal for me is become strong mentally.
“You can (see with) Roger (Federer), Rafa (Rafael Nadal), (Novak) Djokovic, all the other top players, how mentally they are strong – me, compared to them, I’m far away.”
Rublev, the third seed in Adelaide, will play Brit Daniel Evans in a quarter-final.
American Tommy Paul trounced Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas 6-1 6-2 to book a quarter-final against Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who accounted for his compatriot Jaume Munar 7-6 (7-3) 6-3.
Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta downed Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3 6-2 to set up a last-eight meeting with South African qualifier Lloyd Harris, who upset Serbian Laslo Djere 7-6 (7-5) 6-3.
