Dominic Thiem declared he is "definitely back" after reaching the Swedish Open quarter-finals, while Hall of Fame Open favourite Felix Auger-Aliassime crashed out in the second round. 

Thiem earned his first tour-level win in 14 months by downing Emil Ruusuvuori on his Bastad debut, before reaching his first quarter-final of the season by overcoming Roberto Bautista Agut on Thursday.

The Austrian battled to a 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 6-4 victory over the fourth-seeded Bautista Agut, picking up his first top-20 win since beating Novak Djokovic at the ATP Finals in 2020.

Sebastian Baez, who defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in straight sets, awaits in the next round and former world number three Thiem is ready for the task.

"The win against Emil gave me confidence that I can compete against the best players in the world and today against Roberto," said Thiem, the 2020 US Open champion.

"He is always such a tough opponent. I was expecting and hoping it would be a close match. Then when I won the first set in the tie-break I said 'Hey, I can win today.' 

"I had the belief until the end of the match and the third set was really good. It is a process. I beat Ruusuvuori and today I beat Bautista Agut.

"Two really top opponents, so if I can beat them I am definitely back. I am into the quarters of a really strong tournament, so I am happy. It is a process, but I am going the right way."

Second seed Andrey Rublev was made to work for his 7-5 4-6 7-6 (7-2) victory over Federico Coria and will meet Laslo Djere, who defeated Marc-Andrea Huesler in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, Auger-Aliassime resumed his match with Jason Kubler in Newport that was suspended due to bad light on Wednesday with a slight advantage but fell to a 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-4) second-round loss.

That marked a first top-10 victory for Kubler, continuing his fine 2022 season that saw him achieve his best major result at Wimbledon, where he reached the fourth round at the All England Club.

Fourth seed Maxime Cressy is yet to drop his serve at the tournament but needed to survive a first-set scare against fellow American Steve Johnson to triumph 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-4.

Second favourite John Isner will meet Cressy in the semi-finals after battling past fifth seed Benjamin Bonzi 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-5).

Maria Sharapova announced the birth of her first child on Friday with English businessman Alexander Gilkes.

Sharapova, 35, retired early in 2020 when she was just 32, citing increasing physical pain that became too much to ignore.

She won five slam titles between 2004 and 2014, securing a career Grand Slam in the process – although she has lived in the United States since moving there as a child.

In an interview with the New York Times after her retirement, Sharapova detailed her chronic shoulder injuries that have plagued her since she was 21 years old, as well as something called intersection syndrome in both forearms, which she described as "like shin splints in my forearms."

In her Instagram post announcing the birth, Sharapova said her child, Theodore, is "the most beautiful, challenging, and rewarding gift our little family could ask for."

Alexander Bublik beat Andy Murray to reach the semi-finals of the Hall of Fame Open, while Dominic Thiem was knocked out of the Swedish Open on Friday.

Bublik and Murray have now beaten each other two times apiece this year after the third seed won 7-5 6-4 in Newport.

The Kazakh overpowered the three-time grand slam champion to move into the last four, winning 80 per cent of his first-serve points and breaking three times.

Murray hit back straight after being broken at the start of the second set, but the former world one trailed 4-3 after failing to hold for a third time and Bublik did not give him another look-in.

Bublik will do battle with Jason Kubler for a place in the final after he defeated fellow Australian James Duckworth 7-5 7-6 (7-3).

Sebastian Baez ended Thiem's encouraging run to the quarter-finals with a 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 win in Bastad.

Thiem, who has endured an injury nightmare, won his first match 14 months by beating Emil Ruusuvuori in the first round and followed that up by getting the better of Roberto Bautista Agut, but the former US Open champion will go no further.

Argentinian Baez will now come up against Andrey Rublev after the second seed from Russia saw off Laslo Djere 7-5 6-4.

Pablo Carreno Busta blew Diego Schwartzman away in a 6-1 6-0 thrashing, while Francisco Cerundolo got past Aslan Karatsev in straight sets.

Petra Martic beat home favourite Belinda Bencic to set up a semi-final against Caroline Garcia at the Ladies Open Lausanne.

Martic toppled the second seed with a 6-3 7-6 (7-2) victory on Friday.

The unseeded Croatian, who was beaten by eventual champion Elena Rybakina in the fourth round at Wimbledon last week, claimed the only break of the first set to lead 5-3 and held her nerve to serve it out. 

Bencic twice came from a break down in the second set to force a tie-break, but Martic raced into a 6-0 lead and duly moved into the last four.

The 31-year-old Split native will come up against Garcia, who beat Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-4 6-1.

Frenchwoman Garcia also reached the last 16 in the grass-court grand slam at SW19 and has won 11 of her past 12 matches.

Unseeded duo Olga Danilovic and Anastasia Potapova will contest the other semi-final following victories over Simona Waltert and Wimbledon quarter-finalist Jule Niemeier respectively.

At the Budapest Grand Prix, Anna Bondar is through to the last four without dropping a set in her homeland after defeating Martina Trevisan 6-4 6-1.

Ninth seed Bondar will face Bernarda Pera, who beat Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-4 6-3. Yulia Putintseva had won all eight games before Lesia Tsurenko retired from their quarter-final due to injury and she will take on Aleksandra Krunic, who cruised past Wang Xiyu 6-0 6-1.

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