Joe McConnell
Jannik Sinner continued his defence of his Canadian Open title by overcoming Alejandro Tabilo to reach the quarterfinals in Montreal, where he will face Andrey Rublev later on Saturday.
Italian world No. 1 Sinner has shown little sign of lingering problems after missing the Paris Olympics with tonsillitis.
Sinner, who retired from his doubles partnership with Britain’s Jack Draper, overcame a slow start to break the Chilean early in the second set and take a 6-4 6-3 victory in an hour and 21 minutes.
Sinner will next face fifth seed Andrey Rublev, who defeated American Brandon Nakashima 6-2 6-2; their match will be played later on Saturday due to rain delays on Friday.
“Tricky opponent, tricky conditions,” Sinner said. “It’s difficult to play against this type of player. A huge left-hander, great potential.
“I had to be very careful, looking a lot to play the game. It looked like a good game. I know in my mind that I have to play one more time. [today]so there is not much time to be happy and recover.
“If I wanted to play the second match today, I would have had to win the first. So if it took three or four hours, it will take that long. It will be a tough match against Andrey. He played great today.”
Sinner holds a 5-2 advantage over Rublev in their meetings, having defeated the fifth seed en route to the Australian Open title in January.
With this victory, Sinner also became the first player to qualify for the year-end Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.
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Hubert Hurkacz made an epic comeback from a set down to defeat Thanasi Kokkinakis
In the meantime, Kei Nishikori reached his first ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal since Rome in 2019 after beating Portuguese Nuno Borges 6-3 6-4 and will play Matthew Arnaldi after his opponent, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, withdrew due to injury.
Sebastian Korda upset fellow American Taylor Fritz 6-4 7-6 (7-4), while he was fourth in the rankings Hubert Hurkacz he managed to come back and defeat Thanasi Kokkinakis 4-6 6-3 7-6 (8-6).
In Toronto, Emma Navarro She secured a 6-3 7-6 (7-5) victory over lucky loser Taylor Townsend in an all-American quarterfinal at the National Bank Open.
Thanks to this victory, the 23-year-old Navarro reached the first WTA 1000 semifinal of her career.
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