Andrey Rublev withstood a second-set collapse to eclipse world No 1 Jannik Sinner 6-3 1-6 6-2 in the quarter-finals of the Canadian Open in Montreal.
The Russian overpowered the defending champion in the early stages to race to the first set, but his momentum was halted by a half-hour rain delay.
Sinner struck back after the break, clinching the second set without facing a single break point, before Rublev turned the tables in the third set by repelling five break point opportunities in the opening game on his way to opening up a 3-0 lead.
He carried that advantage through to ultimately claim the third set and book a spot in the semi-finals, his second win of the day after previously dispatching American qualifier Brandon Nakashima in straight sets.
Sinner had also played twice during a marathon Saturday, beating Alejandro Tabilo of Chile, following Tropical Storm Debby postponing all matches on Friday and leaving the tournament behind schedule heading into the weekend.
Jannik Sinner was bidding to become the first player since Rafael Nadal to successfully defend his Canadian Open title
“I don’t know, not much to say,” Rublev said after beating Sinner. “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.”
Rublev will face Sinner’s compatriot Matteo Arnaldi for a spot in the final after the world No 46 eclipsed Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-4 7-5.
Matteo Arnaldi claimed a straight-sets victory in his quarter-final
Little split the two players in the first set as they routinely traded holds and breaks of serve, until Arnaldi broke Nishikori in the 10th game to go up by a set. Arnaldi had the momentum to start the second, opening up a 3-0 advantage, before Nishikori rebounded to match the Italian at 3-3.
The rest of the second set followed the same pattern as the first, with both players trading games until Arnaldi held his serve in the 11th game and broke Nishikori in the 12th to seal the result after an hour and one minute.
The other two quarter-finals were pushed back to Sunday. Second-seeded Alexander Zverev was set to face Sebastian Korda, the winner last week in Washington, while fourth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz was scheduled to play Alexei Popyrin.
Zverev beat 13th-seeded Holger Rune 6-3 7-6 and Korda saw off Taylor Fritz in straight sets, in a second-round match that had originally been scheduled for Thursday, before being handed a walker over when Casper Ruud withdrew because of illness.
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