Bautista pulls epic to beat Schwartzman; Tsitsipas sweeps

Roberto Bautista it grows in moments of tension. And he was in charge of demonstrating it one more day, this time, in a Masters 1,000 of Canada where he took a titanic duel against Argentine Diego Schwartzman. After almost three hours of battle and when everything seemed lost for the Castellón in the third set, Rober came to save three match balls (6-3, 3-6, 7-5) to take the pass to about quarterfinals where he will face the American Reilly Opelka, executioner of Lloyd Harris (4-6, 7-6 and 7-6).

The duel began balanced, but Rober gave a step forward from 2-2 to chain three games in a row with which he broke the set. Inspired with first serves close to 200 km / h, the Castellón dominated Schwartzman in his specialty, consistency from the back of the track. Although any minimum mistake is paid dearly against the Argentine, who went ahead 2-0 with a break in favor in the second set after Bautista had a ball to raise the score to 1-1. Bautista's response was immediate. He connected two direct hits with his parallel backhand that, at times, left the 'Peque' touched, but not sunk. Schwartzman raised his serve level dramatically, with 93% of first serve points won, taking the game into the third set.

That inertia was transferred by the Peque at the beginning of the final round, where he squeezed Bautista's initial kick-off. The Spanish knew how to suffer to save a break ball against and put the 1-1, but the intensity of the Argentine carried him flying towards what seemed like a sure victory. Few privileged are able to stay in the fight with 5-3 down in the last set, and one of them is Rober. The Spaniard built a wall at the bottom of the track, he despaired of Schwartzman by saving three match points and took the victory on a four-game streak. Now it is Opelka, whom Bautista dominates 2-1 in the head-to-head, that separates the Spaniard from a new Masters 1,000 semifinal.

Tsitsipas and Medvedev reach the quarterfinals

Karen khachanov arrived this Thursday at Round of 16 of the 1,000 Masters of Canada in one of the best moments of his career, recovering that great tennis that a couple of years ago led him to enter the top-10 of the ATP ranking (8th) and to conquer the Masters of Paris-Bercy. In the Olympic Games he took a step forward by hanging himself with the silver medal (he lost in the final against Zverev), but today in Toronto he had on the other side of the track his particular 'black beast', a Stefanos Tsitsipas who had beaten him in their three previous duels. The Greek, who is also in a sweet moment after reach number 3 in the ranking (highest position of his career) and having played his first Grand Slam final (he fell at Roland Garros against Djokovic), He beat the Russian one more time, on his 23rd birthday, by fast track: 6-3 and 6-2 in 1:20 hours of game.

The one from Athens showed his best version from the beginning, electric legs and with a devastating drive. In the fourth game he achieved the break (3-1), consolidated it with his serve immediately afterwards and opened an insurmountable gap for the Russian. However, Khachanov had several break options to extend the set, but Tsitsipas pulled cold-blooded to adjust balls to the lines and held back the rebellion attempt.

Khachanov accused the moral blow as soon as the second set started. Tsitsipas got the starting break and left the match practically sentenced. With one more tear in his pocket, the Greek was able to lose his serve in the only opportunity available to Khachanov in the entire second set, but he fixed the mishap and sealed the victory with a direct serve. In the quarterfinals, Tsitsipas will face Casper Ruud, executioner of Dusan Lajovic (6-4 and 6-3), in an attempt to equalize the head-to-head (0-1) between the two, since the Norwegian surpassed him this year at the Mutua Madrid Open (7-6 and 6-4). The surprise of the day gave her John Isner, that he showed to be very inspired with the serve and, when that happens, it is known that the American is very dangerous, capable of beating anyone. He got it with Andrey Rublev, one of the favorites for the title, by a score of 7-5 and 7-6 (5). Isner will now face Gael Monfils, who ended Frances Tiafoe's tournament adventure (6-1, 7-6 (2)).

Also among the top eight of the tournament was the main favorite for the title, Russian Daniil Medvedev, who defeated Australian James Duckworth 6-2, 6-4 in straight sets. in one hour and eight minutes of the game. It was a very solid game by Medvedev, who only conceded one break point for the four he used, to sneak into the quarter-finals. In this round Medvedev will face the Polish Hubert Hurkacz, who had to come back against the Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili (6-7 (7), 6-4 and 6-4) after more than two and a half hours of play.

Results of the day in the 1000 Masters of Canada.