Cameron Norrie set up a first ever meeting with Jannik Sinner after battling into the fourth round of the Madrid Open with a 7-5 7-6 (7-5) victory over Thiago Agustin Tirante on Sunday.
While Norrie has faced Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic on multiple occasions, he has oddly never played world No 1 Sinner.
That will change on Tuesday when the 30-year-old will look to halt Sinner's 19-match winning streak and make the quarter-finals in Madrid for the first time.
"I'm excited to play him [Sinner] but every time we practice he rips me up," Norrie told Your Site.
"He's probably the most confident player in tennis right now but I just need to play my game. He'll be tough to play against but I'm excited for it."
Having survived a near three-hour battle against Tomas Machac in the second round, Norrie managed to see off big-serving Tirante in straight sets, albeit the Argentine was competitive in both.
It was a contest of few chances but Norrie converted his third opportunity to break in the 12th game of the opening set with a backhand winner and then clinched his first match point in a nervy second-set tie-break.
Tirante, ranked 75th in the world, sent down a serve measured at 149 miles per hour in the sixth game but was unable to create any break points on the Norrie serve.
World No 3 Coco Gauff fought off more than just her opponent at the Madrid Open âon Sunday, overcoming illness to beat Sorana Cirstea to advance to the last 16.
Despite struggling with a stomach virus, leading to the American vomiting into a bin midway through the second set, Gauff fought back to claim a 4-6 7-5 6-1 victory.
Several players have appeared to have been battling a bug at the tournament, including six-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek, who said she had "zero stability and zero energy" after retiring from her match against Ann Li on Saturday.
"Honestly, I was just trying to finish the match and one point turned into another," said Gauff, who finished runner-up in Madrid and âRome last year before winning the French Open.
"I think I â got what everybody else is having here â in Madrid, unfortunately. So I'm just going to try to push through for tomorrow."
Gauff added: "It was a weird feeling today. I don't know how I got through it.
"I'm not someone who likes to pull out so I âdidn't want to pull out again today. I'm glad âthat I was able to get through it."
Gauff will hope to recover in time for her fourth-round clash against 13th seed Linda Noskova.
The Czech benefited from a walkover on Sunday, with 20th seed Liudmila Samsonova apparently another victim of the virus as she was unable to take to the court.
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