De Minaur blitzes Fritz to make Masters quarter-finals

Alex de Minaur has reached his first ATP Masters quarter-final, blitzing Taylor Fitz in Toronto to advance to the last eight.

The Australian star was too strong for the American romping to a 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 6-1 victory in a topsy-turvy match.

Fritz led 5-1 in the opener before De Minaur battled back with help from 27 unforced errors in the set from the world No.9 and converted his sixth set point in the tiebreak.

Fritz regrouped and rode an early break in the second set to level the match, but De Minaur was razor sharp in the decider, using his all-court speed and gritty style to jump out to a 2-0 lead he would not relinquish.

The victory will give world No.17 De Minaur a huge boost before the start of the US Open at Flushing Meadows.

De Minaur will next face a familiar foe in the quarter-final in the form of second-seed Daniil Medvedev, who cruised past Italy's Lorenzo Musetti 6-4 6-4.

Medvedev holds a 4-1 lead in head-to-head matchups with De Minaur.

Compatriot Aleksandar Vukic won't be joining De Minaur in the last eight though.

The Sydneysider's brave campaign was ended by veteran Gael Monfils in straight sets.

The Frenchman won 6-4 6-4, converting two out of seven break points, while Vukic mustered up two opportunities himself but couldn't capitalise.

Top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz rallied to beat 15th-seeded Hubert Hurkacz 3-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-3) to advance to the quarters.

Preparing for his US Open title defence, the 20-year-old Wimbledon champion ran his match winning streak to 14, dating to his Queen's title run. He leads the tour with six victories and 49 match victories against just four losses.

"In the tough moments you have to believe in yourself, try to go for it," Alcaraz said. "It doesn't matter if you win or not. You have to believe you are going to play your best in that moment, try to play aggressive. I think in the two tiebreaks I did pretty well. That's why I got the win."

Earlier, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina battled back from a third set deficit to beat Casper Ruud 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 7-6 (7-4) and deny the third seed a place in the quarters.

Ruud was two points away from victory at 5-3 30-0 before Fokina served his way out of trouble.

Still leading 5-4, the Norwegian had a chance to serve out the match but was unable to do so, badly shanking a shot on break point to hand momentum to the Spaniard.

Both players held serve to send the contest to a tiebreak as the match crossed the three-hour mark.

Ruud dug himself into an early hole in the breaker with some tentative serving and poor forehands and Davidovich Fokina claimed the win with a drop shot.

"When I broke at 5-4, that gave me like a shot of tequila," the Spaniard said.

Up next for Davidovich Fokina is Mackenzie McDonald, who reached his first quarter-final of a Masters 1000 tournament by dispatching Canadian Milos Raonic 6-3 6-3.