On Thursday evening Stefanos Tsitsipas won his round of 16 against Karen Khachanov at the Masters in Toronto – it was a nice present on his 23rd birthday. Andrey Rublev had John Isner as an opponent.
Stefanos Tsitsipas (left) defeated the Russian Karen Khachanov in Toronto.
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At the Masters in the Canadian metropolis of Toronto, the third-placed Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Karen Khachanov in two sets. In the end, after almost 80 minutes, it was 6: 3 and 6: 2 for the favorite, who will meet the Norwegian Casper Ruud in the quarter-finals.
The 22-year-old, who was seeded in sixth place, had eliminated the Serb Dusan Lajovic in two sets in his round of 16 (6: 4, 6: 3). Ruud is continuing his winning streak of 13 matches in a row (plus one more without a fight) – most recently he won the three previous tournaments in Bastaad, Gstaad and Kitzbühel. The only duel between him and Tsitsipas so far ended at this year’s Masters in Madrid on clay with a two-set win for the Norwegian.
20 aces and the better nerves: Isner knocks out favorite Rublev
The round of 16 between Andrey Rublev and John Isner was a more exciting affair than the appearances of Tsitsipas and Ruud. The Russian, seeded in fourth place, went into the match favored and left the field as a loser.
The service giant from USA contributed 20 aces to his 7: 5, 7: 6 victory and was the one who managed a single break in a close duel (76 points to 74 points for Isner). This was enough in the first set to take the lead, in the second round the 2.06-meter man from Greensboro had the better nerve in the tie-break with 7: 5 points.
