From outside the top 300 at the start of the year, Matt Ebden is set to make his top 250 return with a quarterfinal run at Marseille.
The Australian, a qualifier at the ATP 250 tournament, defeated world No.87 Emil Ruusuvuori 6-2 6-2 to record his fourth straight match win in the French coastal city.
Ebden also recorded a win in doubles with countryman Matt Reid, the Australian duo defeating Andrey Golubev and Hugo Nys 6-4 7-5 in the first round.
Taking 72 minutes to record his singles victory, a dominant Ebden broke Ruusuvuori's serve in the fifth and seventh games of the first set and the third and seventh games of the second.
Winning 70% of his first serve points, Ebden didn't record any double faults and saved all three breakpoints that he faced.
It sets up a quarterfinal showing with third seed Karen Khachanov, who overcame American Mackenzie McDonald.
The 33-year-old Ebden is enjoying his second quarterfinal run of the 2021 season, replicating his result in Singapore.
Results:
Men's singles, second round
[Q] Matthew Ebden (AUS) d Emil Ruusuvuori (FIN) 6-2 6-2
Men's doubles, first round
Matthew Ebden (AUS)/Matt Reid (AUS) d Andrey Golubev (KAZ)/Hugo Nys (MON) 6-4 7-5
Coming up:
Men's singles, quarterfinal
[Q] Matthew Ebden (AUS) v [3] Karen Khachanov [RUS]
Men's doubles, quarterfinal
Matthew Ebden (AUS)/Matt Reid (AUS) v Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP)/Marc Lopez (ESP)