Rublev beats ailing Sinner to reach Montreal semifinal

Montreal, Aug 11 (IANS) Andrey Rublev moved past defending champion Jannik Sinner to knock out the World No. 1 in three sets to enter the Montreal Masters semifinal.

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

Notably, Sinner became the first player to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin after making it to the quarterfinals in Montreal. He will make his second consecutive appearance and third overall at the prestigious season finale in Turin, which this year will take place from November 10 to 17.

From the outset of the rain-interrupted quarterfinal, Sinner struggled to find his rhythm. In their back-and-forth battle, his opponent consistently had the upper hand. As the second set began, rain caused a 25-minute delay.

When play resumed, Sinner emerged with renewed vigour, forcing Rublev onto the defensive with a series of powerful and precise shots. However, the pain and nausea quickly overwhelmed him. The third set became pure agony for Sinner, who had reached his limit. He fought on until the final point, but any hope of a comeback had already slipped away.

He hit 16 unforced errors, far more than usual, and lost to Andrey Rublev for the third time in eight tries.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).