The two-time Roland Garros finalist was surprised by 21-year-old Belgian Alexander Bloks, who won in straight sets – 6:4, 6:4 after an hour and a half of tennis.
In the first set, the 69th tennis player in the world was the first to break, leading 2:1 and holding the break until 4:3. Then the Norwegian returned the lost serve, but only briefly, as he broke again in the next set and then served for 1:0, using the fourth set point.
When it comes to the second part of the match, the seventh game was decisive, in which the Belgian realized the third break point for 4:3. Leading 5:3, Aleksander had two tied match points on his opponent's serve, but then used the fourth, or second match point on his serve, for the greatest success of his career so far.
Bloks will be at least 35th on the ATP list as of next Monday, while Rudd drops out of the Top 20 after five years.
The Belgian will play the winner of the Alexander Zverev – Flavio Coboli match in the semifinals.
In the second semi-final, Janik Siner and Artur Fiss meet.
