ATP 250 Los Cabos Tournament: Rublev and Shapovalov Advance, Davidovich Fokina and Halys Ousted Early

The four top seeds of the ATP 250 Los Cabos tournament, exempt from the first round, all made their debuts in Mexico overnight from Wednesday to Thursday. World No. 10 Andrey Rublev entered the fray against Alex Hernandez, ranked 493rd in the world and a wildcard recipient.

On paper, it was a favorable draw for the Russian, who utterly dominated his opponent (26 winners to 2, 11 aces to 0, 3 breaks in two sets). In the end, Rublev cruised to victory (6-3, 6-2) and secured his 80th career ATP quarterfinal. He will face Emilio Nava for a spot in the semifinals.

Another player advancing tonight was Denis Shapovalov. The world No. 33 and third seed in Los Cabos defeated American qualifier Govind Nanda (6-1, 6-2). Like Rublev, the Canadian completely dominated the match against the ATP’s 405th-ranked player (25 winners to 3) and will take on Tristan Schoolkate for a place in the semifinals.

However, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina’s run ended in the round of 16. The Spaniard, a finalist in two hardcourt tournaments this season in Delray Beach and Acapulco, fell in his opening match in Los Cabos.

Facing James Duckworth, who had previously defeated Adrian Mannarino, the world No. 26 struggled with 42 unforced errors in 1 hour and 26 minutes (6-3, 6-4). The Australian will next play Adam Walton or Nishesh Basavareddy.

Quentin Halys also exited Mexico prematurely. Against Juan Pablo Ficovich, the Frenchman fought hard to win the second set after the Argentine had served for the match.

But it was the world No. 148 who ultimately prevailed (6-4, 6-7, 6-3) to reach his first career ATP quarterfinal at 28 years old. He will face Aleksandar Kovacevic in the next round.