Chilean Christian Garin saved five match points to upset second seed Jeremy Chardy of France 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (9-7), and advance to the quarterfinals of the US Men's Clay Court Championship in Houston on Wednesday. The 22-year-old benefited from a fortunate bounce on match point in the third set tiebreaker when Chardy's forehand caught the net cord and was redirected out of bounds, ending the three hour affair. While Garin was rewarded for his never-say-die attitude, Chardy was his own worst enemy, issuing 13 double faults including two in the decisive third set tiebreaker. Next up for Garin is a quarterfinal meeting with Swiss Henri Laaksonen, whose stout defense made the difference in his 6-4, 7-5 win over American Ryan Harrison earlier in the day on the red clay courts. Upsets were in the humid Texas air as Norway's Casper Ruud overcame 16 aces from fourth-seeded Reilly Opelka to claw back to a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, win to end the day's action. Ruud converted his lone break point opportunity in the second set and took advantage of a mistake-prone Opelka in the third set to advance over the big-serving American. Ruud will face Marcel Granollers in the quarters after the Spaniard upset fifth-seeded American Taylor Fritz in the opening round and crushed Australian Bernard Tomic 6-1 6-2 on Monday to advance. With Opelka eliminated only two of the 11 American who entered the tournament are left — top-seeded Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey. Samantha Stosur recalled for Australia's Fed Cup semifinal Former Grand Slam champion Samantha Stosur was Wednesday recalled for Australia's Fed Cup semifinal against Belarus as the country chases its first title since 1974. The 2011 US Open winner, who withdrew from consideration last year as she struggled for form and fitness, will provide valuable experience to a team led by world No. 9 Ashleigh Barty. Daria Gavrilova and Priscilla Hon were also selected for the April 20-21 showdown at Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane. Stosur is expected to play doubles, but she also holds the record for the most Australia Fed Cup singles wins. Belarus has yet to name its team but it is set to be spearheaded by world No. 10 Aryna Sabalenka, two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka and 35th-ranked Aliaksandra Sasnovich. "She (Barty) is one of the world's best Fed Cup players with her versatility in singles and doubles, and a great leader and asset to the team," said team captain Alicia Molik. "It's also exciting to welcome Sam back into the team, she has a really strong Fed Cup record and her recent doubles results are unparallelled, and Dasha and Pri are both great team players." Australia is looking to reach its first Fed Cup final since 1993 and reclaim the title they won by beating the United States in 1974. The other semifinal is between France and Romania. Meanwhile, Veteran Lucie Safarova has been drafted in to help Fed Cup holders Czech Republic bounce back from defeat by Romania and win a crucial playoff against Canada. Humiliated by Romania in the first round, the Czechs are without their two top players, Petra Kvitova, world No. 3, and Karolina Pliskova, the No. 4 for the April 20-21 tie. They need a win to stay in the world group and believe Safarova, 32, has the experience to help them. "I don't think the Canadians were expecting her to play and this could be our big advantage," team captain Petr Pala told journalists. A French Open finalist in 2015 and four-time Fed Cup winner, Safarova has said she would retire after the Prague Open ending May 4. — Agencies
