ATP Montreal: Jannik Sinner not at his best, Andrej Rublev wins

Match interrupted by rain but Russian doesn’t lose concentration

Sinner’s path to the Montreal tournament stops in the quarterfinals. The world No. 1 è surrendered to Rublev in three sets (6-3, 1-6, 6-2 the partials in favor of the Russian). The Italian did not è appear in his best condition, manifesting several lapses in his game that proved decisive for the victory of Rublev, in his second career success against the South Tyrolean.

In the first set, Rublev played at a very high level, taking home, deservedly, the set (6-3). Rain came, match suspended. Upon returning to the court, Sinner seems to have found himself. He wins, easily, the second partial, with a dry 6-1. The world No. 1 does not exploit five break points in the third, decisive, set. Rublev gets back in control of the match while Sinner goes into great physical distress. With a dry 6-2, Rublev takes home qualification for the semifinals.

Semifinal in which he will find Arnaldi, The other Italian still in play in Montreal plays a match of great substance against Nishikori, taking home the victory in two sets: 6-4, 7-5. Too bad, a fascinating Italian derby could have been staged but Rublev ruined Sinner’s plans. It will be up to Arnaldi to try to “avenge” Sinner.

Now there will be the question of whether Sinner suffered some particular physical problem in the third partial in which, often, he è appeared in oxygen debt. Or, simply, the many close matches tested him physically. A defeat that hurts, especially considering the excellent second set, won without difficulty by Sinner himself. Now head to Cincinnati.