Poland's Hubert Herkaz will face in-form Andy Murray in the quarterfinals of the Moselle Open in Metz, France, when he easily defeated Lukas Pouille in straight sets on Thursday.
1 seed Hárkaz took only 68 minutes to clinch a 6-2, 6-3 win over Cruz, putting on a dominant performance as he aims to win his third ATP Tour event of the season, which takes place at Delray Beach and After the title in Miami.
"It was a good match on my part," Harkaz said in his on-court interview. "Lucas is a great player, he is playing very aggressively. He is coming back and I very much hope to see him close to the top 10, he has the game."
The 24-year-old was upset with Italy's Andreas Seppi in the second round of the US Open earlier this month, but a win at Metz will continue his bid to qualify for the ATP Finals - he sits ninth in the FedEx ATP race. to Turin.
World No. 13 Harkasz will now face Murray, who has reached his first tour-level quarter-final since October 2019. Scott has slipped to 113rd in the world rankings after two hip surgeries that saw him contemplating retirement in 2019.
Murray defeated Canada's Vasek Pospisil in straight sets on Wednesday and said after the match that he was "gaining confidence."
Elsewhere on Thursday, Spain's Pablo Carreo Busta defeated Sweden's Mikel Yammer 7-6(2), 6-4 and will take on Denmark's Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune in the quarter-finals.
France's Gael Monfils registered a 7-6(2), 6-4 win over Germany's Philipp Kollschreiber. They will face the winner between Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia and Alejandro Davydovich Fokina of Spain, who play later on Thursday.