Aleksandr Shevchenko upset defending champion and second seed Casper Ruud on Wednesday at the Bybit Stockholm Open.
The Kazakhstani qualifier and World No. 107 in the PIF ATP Rankings earned a 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3 victory over the Norwegian, marking Shevchenko’s second Top-20 victory of the season.
“It’s one of the biggest [wins of my career], that’s for sure,” said Shevchenko, who is into his third tour-level quarter-final of 2026. “To win against Casper, he’s a super solid player and I think he’s an even better person. I think it was a great level match. I’m really happy with my level today. I believed in myself. It was good that I had matches in qualies, I got used to the courts. Today is a great day for me.”
With former World No. 10 Ernests Gulbis in his coaches’ box, Shevchenko crushed 50 winners en route to the two-hour, 17-minute victory. Shevchenko, 25, will meet Argentine Thiago Agustin Tirante in the quarter-finals.
Shevchenko’s first Top-20 win of 2026 came against Ben Shelton at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Miami.
Top seed Taylor Fritz, back in Stockholm for the first time in five years, began his campaign in winning fashion, defeating Cameron Norrie 7-5, 6-3. The American claimed his ninth Lexus ATP Head2Head win over the British lefty across their 15 clashes.
Norrie earned an early break in the opener and held two set points while serving at 5-4. Fritz dug out of that hole, winning four consecutive games from 3-5 to seal a one-set advantage. The American dropped just one point behind his first serve in the second set, according to Infosys ATP Stats, eventually sealing his place in the last eight.
Fritz, who is seeking his second title of 2026, owns a Tour-leading 14 indoor wins this season. The 29-year-old is into his 11th quarter-final of the season and fourth in as many weeks (Lyon final, Basel SFs, Paris QFs). Last week in Paris, he let slip two match points against Carlos Alcaraz that had he converted, Fritz would have qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals.
Up next for Fritz is former World No. 4 Holger Rune, who defeated Miomir Kecmanovic 2-6, 6-1, 6-4. The Dane is competing in his fifth ATP Tour event of 2026. Last year in Stockholm, Rune suffered an Achilles injury during the semi-finals, pulling up in pain while chasing a routine forehand. The five-time ATP Tour titlist underwent surgery and missed 11 months of competition.
Fourth seed Alejandro Tabilo escaped Lorenzo Sonego 7-6(2), 6-7(7), 7-5 after two hours and 53 minutes. Last year’s finalist Ugo Humbert raced past Borna Gojo 6-2, 6-4.
