The top two seeds at the Estoril Open faced little trouble on Thursday as Russia’s Andrey Rublev and Italy’s Luciano Darderi dropped a combined three games to advance to the quarterfinals of the ATP 250 event in Portugal.

The top-seeded Rublev took down Kazakhstan’s Timofey Skatov 6-1, 6-1. Rublev converted 17 of 23 first serve points (74 percent) and also broke Skatov six times in a match that lasted 59 minutes. Darderi was even more dominant in his 6-0, 6-1 win over Spain’s Pedro Martinez. Darderi didn’t face any break points and registered points on 17 of his 19 second serves.

In the lone upset of the day, France’s Luca Van Assche beat eighth-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in a match that lasted over two hours. Portugal’s Jaime Faria, who upset the No. 6 seed in the first round, continued his run into the quarterfinals with a win over Peru’s Gonzalo Bueno by a 6-2, 6-4 count.

Generali Open

Top-seeded Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan pushed his title defense of this ATP 250 event into the semifinals by taking down Slovakia’s Alex Molcan 6-3, 6-2 in Kitzbuhel, Austria.

Though Molcan broke Bublik four times, Bublik responded by breaking Molcan seven times. In the second set, Molcan forged a 2-2 tie as Bublik committed five double faults in the fourth game. Bublik (13 aces) went on to win the next four games to clinch the match. Bublik will take on fourth-seeded Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the semis after the Argentinian got the better of Peru’s Ignacio Buse with a 6-2, 7-5 win.

In the other half of the bracket, France’s Quentin Halys beat Argentina’s Mariano Navone 7-5, 6-3, while Yannick Hanfmann of Germany beat Argentina’s Sebastian Baez 6-3, 6-1. Hanfmann and Halys will face off in the other semifinal match.

–Field Level Media

Matthew Boyd and Jared Jones both look to continue torrid stretches Friday when the visiting Chicago Cubs open a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Boyd (6-1, 4.15 ERA) won his fourth straight start on Saturday after allowing just one solo homer and two other hits over six innings in Chicago’s 6-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins. The left-hander has a 2.57 ERA in five starts since returning from surgery to repair a meniscus tear sustained while playing with his kids.

“Everything is just moving in the right direction: endurance, how you feel through the outing and afterward. All that’s feeling good,” said Boyd, who came off the injured list on June 25.

An All-Star for Chicago in 2025, Boyd has struggled in his career versus Pittsburgh. He is 1-3 with a 6.18 ERA in eight appearances (all starts) against the Pirates.

Seiya Suzuki also has experienced problems with Pittsburgh this season. He is just 5-for-24 (.208) with eight strikeouts in seven games against the Pirates, who have won four of those games.

Suzuki, however, has heated up this month.

He belted a solo homer in the first inning of Chicago’s 5-1 setback to the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday, giving him at least one hit in 10 of his last 11 games. He has gone deep four times during that stretch.

Unfortunately for the Cubs, the team’s bats went silent after Suzuki’s 17th homer of the season.

Like Boyd, Jones (2-1, 4.05) also has pitched well of late for Pittsburgh.

Jones allowed one run on three hits with a season-high nine strikeouts in five innings of a 5-1 victory over the Cleveland Guardians last Saturday.

He has yielded just two runs on five hits and fanned 23 batters against just three walks in three starts (15.0 innings) in July. He retired 30 batters in a row before Steven Kwan had a base hit in the third inning on Saturday.

That said, the opposition is batting just .100 (5-for-50) versus Jones during the three-game stretch.

“Giving up a run, I had some choice words for myself. But yeah, just hearing those numbers and sitting back and realizing what I’ve done over the last three games, it’s been pretty cool,” Jones said.

Jones’ impressive three-game stretch came on the heels of a rough six-start beginning to the season. The right-hander had been working out the kinks after missing all of last season after suffering an elbow injury during spring training.

Jones, 24, is 1-2 with a 5.24 ERA in four career starts against the Cubs — all coming during his rookie season in 2024.

The Pirates settled for a split of a doubleheader against the New York Yankees on Wednesday following a 2-0 setback in the nightcap.

Pittsburgh’s Nick Gonzales carries a seven-game hitting streak into Friday’s game. He is 12-for-31 with two homers and five RBIs during that stretch.

Gonzales, however, is 2-for-18 this season against the Cubs.

–Field Level Media

The New York Yankees continue to search for answers offensively as they open a 10-game road trip with a matchup against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.

The Yankees split a doubleheader with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday, although they scored in just two of their 18 innings that day. New York dropped the opener 5-3, managing only six hits in the process, while the nightcap resulted in an uninspiring 2-0 triumph.

“We’ve got to improve (at the plate),” manager Aaron Boone said. “I feel like I’ve said that a lot here over the last month. We know we’ve got to produce better offensively, and consistently, night in and night out. We’re working to get that done. For us to reach our peak, we’ve got to get some guys going and be more consistent.”

New York continues to play without star outfielder Aaron Judge, who has been out since May 31 with a fractured right rib.

“It’s Aaron Judge; it’s a massive presence,” Boone said. “But again, he’s not there right now. Look at these names. We have a lot of good names here, capable, and we’ve got to step it up a little better.”

The Phillies’ offense has not been particularly impressive lately either, managing only one run in three of their six games since the All-Star break. Their bats showed some life in Wednesday’s 9-5 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, with Alec Bohm leading the way with a homer and three RBIs.

“Nothing in this series changes our thoughts,” said Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly, whose team dropped two of three to Los Angeles. “If we play well, we’re capable of being fine.”

Philadelphia has played well with Jesus Luzardo (9-4, 3.43 ERA) on the mound, having won his last 10 starts. The lefty allowed one run in five innings against the New York Mets on Saturday in his first start since the All-Star break.

“He threw a lot of pitches in those first couple innings, and then he settled in and quickened up after that,” Mattingly said.

Luzardo has struggled against New York in his career, going 0-3 with an 18.36 ERA in three appearances (two starts).

New York will give the ball to Will Warren (7-4, 4.00), who made a relief cameo in Wednesday’s doubleheader against Pittsburgh. The lefty threw two-thirds of an inning in the nightcap with one strikeout, allowing one hit and one walk in a 16-pitch effort.

Now, Warren will make his first start since July 12, when he yielded one run in five innings against the Washington Nationals. He was originally slated to start Tuesday’s affair against the Pirates before that game was rained out.

“As a starter, I feel like I’m being crafty and pitching a little more than just the blacked-out adrenaline, throwing as hard as I can in the ninth,” Warren said Wednesday.

The 27-year-old has made two career starts against the Phillies. Each resulted in a no-decision, and he holds a 4.91 ERA in 11 innings against them.

–Field Level Media