Sinner dispatches Tabilo, reaches Montreal QFs

Jannik Sinner continued his quest towards a fifth title of the season on Saturday at the Omnium Banque National présenté par Rogers, where he dispatched Chilean Alejandro Tabilo 6-4, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals in Montreal.

After a slow start, the World No. 1 began to motor from the mid-way point in the first set. The Italian won 92 per cent (11/12) of his first-serve points in the opener and then won eight consecutive points in the early stages of the second set to break Tabilo’s serve and take full control.

"Tricky opponent, tricky conditions," Sinner said. "It is difficult playing against this type of player. Huge lefty, big potential. I had to be very careful, looking a lot to make the game. It felt like a good match. I know in my mind I have to play one more time [today], so there is not much time to be happy and recover. I am happy to play again later."

With his 79-minute win, Sinner set a quarter-final meeting with Andrey Rublev. The top seed is undertaking double duty on Saturday after rain cancelled Friday's play and will return to Court Central at 7 p.m. local time to face Rublev.

"When you are a set and a break up you want to close it in two," Sinner said. "If I want to play the second match today, I had to win the first one. So if it took three or four hours, it takes that long. It will be a tough match against Andrey. He played great today."

Sinner leads Rublev 5-2 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series, having defeated the fifth seed en route to the Australian Open title in January.

Sinner has fond memories in Canada, having won his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title at the Canadian Masters 1000 event last year in Toronto. Turning 23 next week, Sinner has since soared to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings. He boasts a 44-4 season record and leads the ATP Tour in hard-court wins (24) this year.

Sinner has now advanced to at least the quarter-final stage at all five Masters 1000 events he has played this year, with his best result a title run in Miami. The 22-year-old is competing on hard court for the first time since he triumphed in Florida in March.

Sinner became the first player to qualify for the 2024 Nitto ATP Finals with his third-round win in Montreal. The Italian reached the championship match at the year-end event in 2023.

In other action, Kei Nishikori reached his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final since Rome in 2019. The Japanese star beat Portugal's Nuno Borges 6-3, 6-4 to advance to his 23rd quarter-final at this level.

Nishikori is a 12-time tour-level titlist and rose to a career-high No. 4 in the PIF ATP Rankings in 2015. The 34-year-old has been plagued by injuries in recent years and prior to his first-round win against Alex Michelsen, had not earned a victory at ATP Masters 1000 level since Indian Wells in 2021. He will next meet Matteo Arnaldi after the Italian advanced when Alejandro Davidovich Fokina retired in the third set with Arnaldi leading 4-6, 7-6(5), 3-0.