British number four Jack Draper has beaten veteran Italian Fabio Fognini at the ATP Winston-Salem Open in North Carolina to set up a last-16 encounter against Dominic Thiem.
Draper was looking to maintain momentum from his fine run in Montreal, where he entered as a qualifier and went on to upset Stefanos Tsitsipas as well as Gael Monfils in reaching the quarter-finals – a run which saw him rise to a career-high ranking of 55.
On Tuesday the pair exchanged breaks in the opening set before the 20-year-old, seeded 13 and handed a first-round bye, stepped up his return game to snatch a second break and take the set.
Fognini lifted his return game to take the following set but then seemed to run out of energy in the decider, with Draper outlasting his opponent to book a spot against 2020 US Open champion Thiem.
Earlier, Kyle Edmund fell 6-4 7-6 (5) to French 10th seed Benjamin Bonzi.
Edmund, who beat Greek Michail Pervolarakis in the first round, was broken twice in the opening set as Bonzi opened up a 5-3 lead before closing it out on his next service game.
The 26-year-old Frenchman then proceeded to claim the second set and snap a run of four straight three-set losses.
British women’s number two Harriet Dart fought valiantly but lost a rain-delayed second-round match against Spaniard Nuria Parrizas-Diaz at the WTA Championnats Banque Nationale De Granby in Canada.
Dart, who had beaten Belgium’s Maryna Zanevska in the first round, was broken in the sixth game of the opening set.
Fifth seed Parrizas-Diaz then saved five break points to fend off a fightback from Dart, who let a 40-0 lead in her next service game slip as the Spaniard eventually closed out the set.
Play was suspended at the start of the second set because of rain, but it did not prove a long delay.
Both women failed to hold onto their opening serve games, before the second set levelled up at 2-2 and the rain then returned to force the players off court again, this time for an extended spell.
As the washout continued, tournament organisers announced there would be no play before 6pm local time.
With conditions improving, the match was able to resume but nine hours after commencing the Spaniard finished 6-2 6-4 over Dart.
