Holger Rune eliminated Casper Ruud from his title defence in Barcelona, winning 6-4, 6-2 in the quarter-finals on Friday.
Ranked 13th in the world, Rune broke Ruud’s serve twice in each set, achieving his second victory over the 10th-ranked Norwegian out of eight encounters.
The Dane is set to compete against Karen Khachanov in the semi-finals after the Russian defeated Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-4, 7-5.
Top seed Carlos Alcaraz is pursuing his third Barcelona title in four years, facing Australia’s Alex de Minaur later on Friday.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has been a runner-up at this tournament four times, is up against Frenchman Arthur Fils in the quarter-finals.
