Rublev beats ailing Sinner in Montreal QFs

In a rain-interrupted quarter-final at the Omnium Banque National présenté par Rogers, Andrey Rublev weathered a storm from defending champion Jannik Sinner to knock out the World No. 1 in three sets on Saturday in Montreal.

Rublev's 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 victory moved him up to eighth place in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, putting him ahead of Stefanos Tsitsipas as the battle for a place at the Nitto ATP Finals heats up.

Sinner appeared to struggle with a right-hip injury throughout the match, particularly during the deciding set, in what may be a re-appearance of an issue that has plagued him for much of the 2024 season. Though he did not call for the trainer, the Italian massaged his hip area during the changeovers and hunched over onto his racquet after several gruelling points. Before the start of the third set, microphones picked up coach Darren Cahill telling Sinner to call the trainer if needed.

"It was a really great match of mine. I was playing really well today and I'm happy that I was able to win," Rublev said.

"I don't know, not much to say, because I still for the moment... really I don't understand what's happening, because Jannik is an amazing player and he's playing unbelievable for the past two years. I was just hoping that I would be able to fight with him, to show great tennis. In the end, I think we had a lot of great rallies, a lot of long rallies.

"To be able to win this kind of match, of course it's always special, and of course I needed those matches, especially after some bad moments this year. So of course I'm happy." 

After Saturday's evening session was delayed by an hour, Rublev made the most of a brief window in between rain showers to take the opening set behind big baseline hitting. A brisk, 39-minute opener was followed by a half-hour rain delay, after which Sinner came storming back.

The Italian began to drag Rublev into longer rallies and raced through set two without facing a break point. Sinner then created five break points in the opening game of set three, only for Rublev to save them all and then break en route to a 3-0 lead.

The 26-year-old coolly saw that advantage home to snap Sinner's eight-match winning streak on hard courts, a run that dated back to his Miami title triumph in March. Having improved to 3-5 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head against Sinner, Rublev now owns two wins against reigning World No. 1s; he also beat Novak Djokovic in the 2022 Belgrade final when the Serbian was atop the PIF ATP Rankings.

Both Rublev and Sinner pulled double duty on Saturday. Rublev defeated Brandon Nakashima earlier in the day to complete his box set of quarter-final appearances at all nine ATP Masters 1000s. Sinner beat Alejandro Tabilo to advance to the quarters and become the first player to secure qualification for the 2024 Nitto ATP Finals.

Rublev will next meet Matteo Arnaldi, who closed Saturday's play with a 6-4, 7-5 quarter-final win against the resurgent Kei Nishikori. The 23-year-old Italian is through to his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final and his second tour-level semi-final overall (Umag 2023).

Arnaldi has soared 17 places to No. 29 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings this week, setting himself up for a career high.

He saved four of six break points against Nishikori and converted on five of nine break chances, according to Infosys ATP Stats. Arnaldi was at his best late in both sets, winning the final two games of each on his way to the milestone victory.