ATP roundup: Hurkacz and Ruud through in Estoril, Shelton into Houston semis

Top seed Casper Ruud of Norway and second seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, both advanced to the semi-finals of the Millennium Estoril Open in Portugal after securing victories on Friday.

Ruud emerged victorious in his match against Hungary's Fucsovics, converting three out of five break-point opportunities on his way to a 6-3, 6-2 win.

Despite Fucsovics battling through an injury throughout the match, Ruud managed to secure the victory.

In another intense match, Hurkacz had to rely on a tiebreaker to defeat Spanish qualifier Llamas Ruiz with a score of 7-6(4), 6-4.

Hurkacz displayed great resilience by saving all eight break points he faced, including five in the first set where both players held serve until 6-6.

Moving on to the semi-finals, Ruud will face Spain's Pedro Martinez, who emerged as a 6-4, 6-4 winner over lucky loser Gasquet of France.

On the other hand, Hurkacz will meet Chilean player Garin, who put an end to Portugal's Borges' home-soil run with a 6-2, 7-6(3) result.

Berrettini, playing on a protected ranking, secured his spot in the semi-finals by defeating fellow Italian and fourth seed Sonego with a score of 6-3, 7-6(5).

Despite only participating in his second event of the season, Berrettini showcased an impressive performance, winning 83.6 percent of his first-serve points and hitting five aces to overcome Sonego.

With Navone being the only remaining seeded player, the No. 7 seed from Argentina defeated Australian Vukic 6-2, 6-4. In the semi-finals, Berrettini will face Navone, while Russia's Kotov will meet Spain's Carballes Baena.

Kotov had a comfortable victory over Italian qualifier Fognini, winning 6-1, 6-2, while Carballes Baena triumphed over American qualifier Moreno De Alboran with a score of 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

At the US Clay Court Championship, Shelton advanced to his first ATP clay semi-final by narrowly defeating his compatriot Nakashima 7-5, 7-6(9).

It took Shelton five match points to finally overcome Nakashima after a challenging two hours and 13 minutes. Shelton impressively won all seven break points he faced during the match.

Shelton's upcoming opponent will be Argentine fourth seed Tomas Etcheverry, who progressed to the next round after opponent Michael Mmoh retired from the match with a score of 6-3, 0-1.

Italy's unseeded player Luciano Darderi secured a spot in the semi-finals by defeating US seventh seed Marcos Giron with a score of 6-0, 6-4.

Darderi is set to compete against third-seeded Tiafoe in the other semi-final match after the American won against Jordan Thompson with a score of 7-6 (8), 6-4.