Casper Ruud grabbed the lead in the season match-wins race, earning his 26th of the season with victory into the quarter-finals in Barcelona.
The Norwegian who played the weekend Monte Carlo final against Stefanos Tsitsipas, defeated Australian Jordan Thompson 6-1, 6-4.
Ruud’s 26 puts him one ahead of Jannik Sinner, winner of three titles this season but sitting out this week.
Ruud, a two-time Roland Garros finalist,started out 5-0 against Thompson and broke in the second to earn a 73-minute trip into the last eight, taking revenge for a loss to Thompson in the Los Cabos final this year.
The Scandinavian lined up a match against 40th-ranked Italian Matteo, a winner over Marco Trungelliti with the loss of just three games.
