Cam Norrie at the ASB Classic, 2024. Photo: Dom Thomas
New Zealand raised British tennis No.1 Cameron Norrie came through his first match at the ASB Classic unscathed as three of the top six seeds advanced to Thursday's quarter-finals.
French 19-year-old Arthur Fils breezed past Portugal's Nuno Borges while second seed Norrie, who grew up in Auckland, beat French teenager Luca van Assche in three sets.
Top seeded American Ben Shelton also moved into the last eight with a straight sets win.
Shelton, ranked 16 in the world at just 21 years, bludgeoned his way to a 6-4 6-3 victory over Hungary's Fabian Marozsan, who had beaten Gail Monfils on opening day.
Meanwhile sixth seed Fils, just 19 years, impressed in his dismantling of Borges 6-2 6-0.
Twenty-eight-year-old Norrie, a regular playing and watching at this arena as a youth, produced an impressive and courageous display infront of a packed house.
Norrie, who grew up in Auckland before moving to the UK, beat off the outstanding French junior Luca van Assche 6-3 6-7 6-1 to move into the quarterfinals.
"That was pretty special. Like the old Cam Norrie win, having to tough it out, had a match point in the second set. Credit it to him, it was a tough match and I was happy with the way I responded when I went down a break in the third," Norrie said.
"It was so special to play out here tonight. They do it so well here at this tournament. A lot of people here know me from playing as a junior here, so nice to be able to put a performance on in front of them all. And it keeps my chances alive."
Both Fils and Shelton were pleased with their performances.
"I was playing pretty good and I was feeling great on the court," said Fils.
"The crowd helped me a little bit in the first set because it was a little tough, but from then I was feeling pretty good and I am happy with the win."
Fils knows it will be a more difficult assignment against German Daniel Altmaier, who upset fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) 7-6 7-5.
"I lost to Altmaier last time so tomorrow (Thursday) will be a tough match but I will try my best to win. Let's see tomorrow."
Shelton will take on Spain's Roberto Carballes Baena in his quarterfinal, after he disposed of Austria's Sebastian Ofner 7-5 6-3, while Norrie will meet Chilean qualifier Alejandro Tabilo.
The remaining quarterfinal will see another qualifier, Alexandre Muller (FRA) play Japan's Taro Daniel.
The doubles competition continued with most interest on New Zealand's Michael Venus, who has a career-high sixth in the world rankings. He began his campaign with regular partner Jamie Murray.
However their late-night clash went the way of the super-talented Belgian pair of Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen who won 10-4 in the super-tiebreak.
