August 10, 2024; Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Andrey Rublev after defeating Jannik Sinner (not in photo) in the quarterfinals at IGA Arena reaction. Mandatory Credit: David Kijak-USA TODAY Sports Russian fifth seed Andrei Rublev upset the first seed in the quarterfinals of the National Bank Open in Montreal, defeating Italy’s Janik 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 ·Cinna, a perfect ending to a busy Saturday.
Rublev saved 10 of 12 break points in the match and won the first three games of the third set to overcome an ugly second set to earn his second win of the day. He had previously defeated American qualifier Brandon Nakajima 6-2, 6-2. The Russian finished with 22 winners and six unforced errors, while Nakajima had nine and 13 winners respectively.
“I don’t know, there’s nothing to say,” Rublev said after knocking out Sinner. “Jannick is an amazing player and his performance over the past two years has been unbelievable. I just hope I can play alongside him and show great tennis talent.
“In the end, I thought we had a lot of good rallies, a lot of long rallies.”
Sinner was also in action earlier on Saturday, sweeping 15th-seeded Chilean Alejandro Tabilo 6-4, 6-3 to set up his match against Rublev .
Sinner won 23 of 25 first-serve points (92%) and collected 16 winners to Tabilo’s 12 to book her ticket to the quarterfinals.
“Tough opponent, tough conditions,” Sinner said of meeting Tabilo. “It’s difficult to play against this type of player. Huge southpaw, huge potential. I have to be very careful and watch a lot to come into the game. It feels like it’s a good game.”
Tropical Storm Debbie swept through Montreal on Friday, postponing all games and forcing some players – like Rublev and Sinner – to play two games on Saturday.
The two matches feature French qualifier Arthur Rinderknech and fourth-seeded Polish player Hubert Hurkacz. In the third round, Hurkacs won 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Earlier in the day, Lindekneich eliminated Italian Flavio Coboli 6-3, 6-2, while Hulkac defeated 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 ( 6 ) defeated Australian qualifier Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Hurkac will face Australia’s Alexei Popyrin in the quarter-finals.
Popyrin rallied and beat seventh-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3. Popyrin saved eight of nine break points in that match.
American Sebastian Korda also fended off his seeded opponent, sweeping compatriot and ninth seed Taylor Fritz 6-4, 7-6 (4).
In other matches, second seed Alexander Zverev defeated 13th seed Dane Holger-Ruhn and Italian Matteo Arnaldi knocked out retired Spaniard Alejandro Lo Davidovich Fokina and Japan’s Kei Nishikori defeated Portugal’s Nuno Borges. Nishikori’s ranking is protected.
After defeating Fritz, Kordain easily defeated Norwegian player and sixth seed Kaspar Ruud to advance to the quarterfinals.
Analdi ended the match by defeating Kei Nishikori 6-4, 7-5.
–Scene-level media
