A third favorite in the Canadian championship, the Greek clearly dominated the silver medalist at the last Olympics. The Russian player was almost unable to attack the first ball and created only two break opportunities, which were saved by Tsitsipas.
After losing the first set, Khachanov missed a restart at the start of the second set and suffered a break from which he never recovered. He was having all kinds of problems with his second ball (22% of points he won in the second term).
It was a very good performance on my part,” Tsitsipas said on the court after the match. I’m really glad I was able to maintain my level, and the fact that it’s happening on my birthday makes it so special […] I have set myself some very high goals in this game, and I am glad I achieved them by playing responsibly.
Tsitsipas set a date with Norway’s Casper Ruud in the quarter-finals. The sixth seed beat Serbian Dusan Lajovic, Canadian striker Felix Auger-Aliassime, 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday.
In other matches held on Thursday in Toronto, Spaniard Roberto Bautista beat Argentine Diego Schwartzman, while American Riley Opelka beat his compatriot Lloyd Harris.
Meanwhile, American giant John Isner caused some surprise by defeating Russian Andrey Rublev, ranked No. 4 in the world, in two sets.
Isner won the title in Atlanta two weeks ago. He will face in the quarter-finals, the eleventh seed of France, Gael Monfils, who was better than Frances Tiafoe of the United States.
The tournament’s favorite, Daniel Medvedev, beat Australian James Duckworth with ease in two sets 6-2, 6-4. Medvedev will now meet with Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, who overthrew Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili late this evening.
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