Andrey Rublev needed less than an hour to book his place in the Estoril Open quarter-finals as he cruised to a 6-1 6-1 victory over lucky loser Timofey Skatov.

The world number 14, who claimed his first title of 2026 at Bastad last week, defeating Luciano Darderi in the final, will face Luca Van Assche next.

The only game Rublev gave up in the opening set actually came on his serve, but it was sandwiched between two of three breaks that went the other way.

The top seed then served imperiously throughout the second set, only losing one point with the ball in hand as he romped to a dominant, 59-minute triumph.

"I am happy to be here. It is my first time," Rublev said afterwards. "The conditions are not easy to play in, but I feel great that I was able to win in straight sets."

Rublev could be on course to face Darderi in a second final in the space of seven days, after the Italian defeated Spaniard Pedro Martinez 6-0 6-1 in his own Estoril opener.

Elsewhere, at the Austrian Open in Kitzbuhel, top seed Alexander Bublik beat Alex Molcan 6-3 6-2, with the Kazakhstani overcoming a wobble that saw him serve five double faults in a single game in the second set.

He is now into the semi-finals and will take on Tomas Martin Etcheverry, with Yannick Hanfmann and Quentin Halys facing off on the other side of the draw.

Rublev dominant on main-draw Estoril debut

Rublev is now into his seventh ATP quarter-final of the season, having won five straight matches across Bastad and Estoril.

It will be his 89th overall appearance in the last eight of a Tour-level event and his 22nd on clay, while his record in opening matches at tournaments this year now stands at 6-1.

Thursday's match was his first-ever at the Portugal event, having lost in qualifying on his only previous appearance, way back in 2017 against Bjorn Fratangelo.