Swiss Indoors Basel Round-Up: Taylor Fritz upset after erratic performance; Casper Ruud nears top-10 return after outshining Wawrinka

The 8 players who will compete in the quarter-finals of the Swiss Indoors Basel Open have been finalized, with the surprise elimination of the first seed Taylor Fritz at the hands of Ugo Humbert.

On the other hand, the player who continues his state of grace is Casper Ruud, who secured his 6th consecutive victory—defeating Stan Wawrinka—and advanced to the quarter-finals with the hope of returning to the top-10.

Casper Ruud (No. 11) continues his campaign in the Swiss Indoors Basel after defeating the 3-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka (No. 158) in straight sets 6-4, 7-6(5). The Norwegian extended his winning streak to six—after being crowned champion at the Stockholm Open last week. Just like last week, Ruud was impeccable on his serve—winning 79% of his first-serve points—although he encountered a resilient Wawrinka, who, supported by the crowd, managed to give the Norwegian World No. 11 a good battle.

In the first set, the 40-year-old Swiss player was actually the first to take the lead, securing a break in the third game, but Ruud quickly responded with a break back that brought him back into the match. Wawrinka had effectiveness on his first serve—winning 77% of his first-serve points—but struggled heavily on his second serve, winning only 17%. The second serves were precisely the Swiss's weak point, which Ruud exploited to secure the second break in the 10th game and take the set 6-4.

Wawrinka had put up a good fight on return, but he didn't have many opportunities to convert a break. Towards the beginning of the second set, the Swiss again managed a couple of chances and, just like in the first set, was the first to take the lead, going up 3-1. However, the Norwegian's reaction was not long in coming, as he broke back and sent everything to a tie-break. It was there that Ruud was strong on his serve, and on his third match point, he closed out the victory 6-4, 7-6(5).

Ruud will face the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the quarter-finals—who arrives after good wins against Sonego and Brooksby. The Norwegian is just one win away from returning to the top-10 after 5 months.

The surprise of the day in Basel was the defeat of the World No. 4 Taylor Fritz, who could not maintain his form and surprisingly fell to the Frenchman Ugo Humbert (No. 24). The 28-year-old American had survived a tough first-round battle against Valentin Vacherot—the Shanghai Masters champion just a couple of weeks ago—but he could not repeat the win and had an erratic performance against Humbert, landing only 47% of his first serves, which made it very difficult to keep up with his opponent.

Humbert clung to his effectiveness on his first serve—with a 69% first serve percentage, winning 80% of those points. In important moments, it was the European who came out ahead, saving the two break points he faced and capitalizing on 2/5 break opportunities—one in each set—to secure a victory without major complications 6-3, 6-4 after an hour and 20 minutes.

Fritz's elimination leaves the draw without its top favorite—adding to the elimination of second seed Ben Shelton. The top half of the draw is particularly open, and Humbert will face qualifier Reilly Opelka for a spot in the semi-finals.