Ignacio Buse knocked out home favorite Joao Fonseca in the Rio Open second round on Thursday, winning 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 to reach his first ATP 500 quarter-final. The 21-year-old Peruvian, ranked a career-high No. 91 after sitting at No. 230 a year ago, became the first player from his country to make an ATP 500 quarter-final since the series began in 2009.
Match Highlights and Player Performance
In a match delayed an hour by rain, Buse prevailed after two hours and 26 minutes. He steadied himself as Fonseca piled up 43 unforced errors and saved eight of the nine break points he faced, including three in the first game of the second set and three more at 4-3 in the decider. He closed out the upset with his eighth ace and will face Matteo Berrettini in the last eight.
Berrettini also came through a three-set test, defeating Dusan Lajovic 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in two hours and nine minutes. The victory sent the Italian into his first tour-level clay quarter-final since his title run in Kitzbuhel in 2024.
Eighth seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry joined them in the quarter-finals with a 7-6 (1), 6-4 win over qualifier Vilius Gaubas. The Argentine missed a match point on return at 5-2 in the second set, then rain halted play as he prepared to serve out the match. On resumption, he was broken, but he immediately broke back to finish the job in two hours and seven minutes. The result lifts him to No. 44 in the live rankings, set for a return to the Top 50 for the first time since April last year. He next faces lucky loser Jaime Faria.
Faria advanced by beating Damir Dzumhur 7-6 (1), 6-4 in two hours and three minutes. The Portuguese player had already recorded the biggest win of his career in the first round by eliminating two-time defending champion Sebastian Baez. With each match, the competition intensifies, and the upcoming quarter-finals promise exciting encounters as these players vie for a spot in the semi-finals.