British number one Jack Draper is through to the last 16 of the Madrid Open after Matteo Berrettini retired from their third-round matchup, but Cameron Norrie and Jacob Fearnley have been eliminated.
One of many clashes pushed back due to Monday's widespread power outage in Spain and Portugal, Draper took a tense first-set tie-breaker against Berrettini, after which the Italian immediately retired.
The Indian Wells Masters champion recovered from losing serve in the first game to break back for 3-3, after which he wasted four set points on the Berrettini serve before the tie-breaker.
However, two unforced errors from Berrettini allowed Draper to surge into an early lead in the decider, and he claimed the opening set 7-6[2] before his Italian foe unexpectedly called it a day.
Berrettini has been beset by injuries throughout his career, and Draper disclosed the nature of his opponent's problem in his on-court interview, saying: "He said his abs were pulling. I've had ab injuries in the past. I believe he might have done it in his last match.
"Credit to him for coming out here and putting on a good first set, I saw his energy was a bit low. In general, Matteo is a very positive player. It's always tough to see a friend having an injury. I know it's plagued him a lot, myself as well, I know how it feels."
Draper - who has now achieved a career-best result in an ATP Masters tournament on clay - faces American 11th seed Tommy Paul in the fourth round, where he will be the only Briton present.
Fearnley, Norrie eliminated from Madrid Open on Tuesday
© Imago
Neither Fearnley nor Norrie were able to join Draper in the last 16, as the former was beaten 4-6 6-7[3] by Grigor Dimitrov, in a match that was halted by the Iberian blackout on Monday morning.
Fearnley had just broken back for 4-5 in the second set when play was interrupted, but he returned on Tuesday with two strong holds - including saving a match point - to force a tie-breaker.
Taking a 3-2 lead before serving again, the 23-year-old was seemingly well-positioned to take the contest to the distance, but he ultimately ran out of steam as Dimitrov won five points in succession to prevail.
Later in the day, former Wimbledon semi-finalist Norrie was served a dose of his own medicine; after coming from a set down to beat both Martin Landaluce and Jiri Lehecka in the first two rounds, he lost in such circumstances to Canadian lucky loser Gabriel Diallo.
At the end of a two-hour and 30-minute marathon, Norrie succumbed to a 6-2 4-6 4-6 defeat, only mustering 19 winners compared to Diallo's 38 and registering eight double faults on the day.
Elsewhere, Iga Swiatek survived a second-set scare against Diana Shnaider to triumph in three, while the in-form Elina Svitolina followed up her statement win over Elena Rybakina with a 6-3 6-4 success over Maria Sakkari.
Ben Knapton
