Montreal (AFP) – Jannik Sinner bolted out of the blocks in his first ATP match since Wimbledon, with the defending champion defeating Borna Coric 6-2, 6-4 on Thursday at the Montreal Masters. The Italian world number one last competed in the All-England Club quarter-finals a month ago, where he was treated for illness in a loss to Daniil Medvedev. Sinner missed the Olympics due to tonsillitis and arrived a week ago in Canada to get accustomed to match play again. It has worked well, as he and Briton Jack Draper have reached the doubles quarter-finals.
“Playing doubles helped to get the match feeling back,” Sinner said after his 96-minute defeat of Croat Coric. “I’m hitting the ball quite cleanly, trying to get better each day.” The 22-year-old Australian Open champion called his singles start “positive.” “I’m very happy with the performance,” he said. “The match felt closer than the score. I had to save a break point in the second set — if he had made it, the match could have potentially changed. I had a good mindset today. I’ll try to keep that going.”
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German second seed Alexander Zverev dominated in advancing to the third round, as a trio of other seeds went down to defeat. Zverev crushed Australian Jordan Thompson 6-1, 6-1 after overcoming the challenging switch from Paris Olympic clay to fast North American hardcourt. The 2017 champion in Canada took a victory as third seed Medvedev, eighth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, and 10th seed Tommy Paul all lost. Seeded winners included number five Casper Ruud, who beat James Duckworth 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, and number 13 Dane Holger Rune, who beat Pablo Carreno Busta 6-1, 6-3.
Zverev, a Paris quarter-finalist, won his tour-leading 48th match of the season. “You only have two or three practice sessions plus it’s a six-hour time difference (from the Olympics),” he said. “It’s extremely difficult to go straight from clay to cement — you just cannot compare the conditions. I’m happy to be through but it’s not easy to play a Masters straightaway. That’s why there have been some exits from the top guys.”
Medvedev was overwhelmed as Alejandro Davidovich Fokina made a reset after losing the second set to earn a 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 win. The Spaniard had lost four previous matches against a player whose last title came in Rome 15 months ago. “It was not easy for me,” said the 42nd-ranked winner. “It has not been an easy year for me. But to beat a player like Daniil gives me a lot of strength and power to continue. I’m very happy for this win.”
– Nishikori advances – Former world number four Kei Nishikori advanced to a Masters third round for the first time in three years with a 6-4, 6-4 defeat of eighth seed Tsitsipas that took just 78 minutes. Japan’s former US Open finalist, who has had several seasons of hip injury drama, is playing with a protected ranking of 576 but making comeback progress this week. Nishikori (2016) and Tsitsipas (2018) have both played Canadian finals, with the Asian earning his first top-20 match win since 2021.
“It was a great win for me. It means a lot to beat Stef,” Nishikori said. “I was playing really well, I stayed aggressive and didn’t miss too many balls.” Fifth seed Andrey Rublev matched his Canadian career-best with a third round spot after defeating Tomas Martin Etcheverry 7-6 (7/3), 6-2. He will next face Brandon Nakashima, who put out 10th-seeded Olympic double medalist Paul 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 6-1 with nine aces and five breaks of serve. Rublev, who has notoriously melted down several times during 2024 matches, kept his cool in victory.
“I’m proud I was able to stay calm. I was not playing well at the start and he was very aggressive, he was running for every ball,” he said. “I had stress inside but was able to stay calm and compete. In the end, I was able to turn around the match.”
© 2024 AFP
