Taylor Fritz quiets home hope Gabriel Diallo in Toronto; Frances Tiafoe, Andrey Rublev also advance
Second-seeded Fritz beat the 6-foot-8 Canadian 6-4, 6-2 on Friday night in the third round.
TORONTO (AP) — Second-seeded Taylor Fritz of the United States beat 6-foot-8 Canadian Gabriel Diallo 6-4, 6-2 on Friday night in the third round of the National Bank Open.
Fritz set up a fourth-round match in the hard-court event with 19th-seeded Jiri Lehecka of Czechia. Lehecka beat 15th-seeded Arthur Fils of France 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The 27-year-old Fritz is No. 4 in the world. He has 10 career ATP Tour titles, winning this year on grass at Eastbourne and Stuttgart.
In the afternoon, sixth-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia beat Lorenzo Sonego of Italy 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. Rublev will face Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain, a 6-2, 6-4 winner over Czech Jakub Mensik.
"In the second and third sets, I was able to play more aggressive, fewer mistakes," Rublev said. "Let's see what's happening next, I'm super excited and motivated."
Read more: Despite scheduling complaints, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina wins early bird special
Seventh-seeded Frances Tiafoe of the United States edged Aleksandar Vukic of Australia 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to set up a match with Washington winner Alex de Minaur of Australia. De Minaur advanced when countryman Christopher O'Connell withdrew.
Top-ranked Jannik Sinner — the 2023 winner — and No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz skipped the hard-court event that ends Thursday. No. 5 Jack Draper and No. 6 Novak Djokovic also are absent.