Jodar sinks Lehecka, Fils survives Norrie’s late charge to enter Montreal QF

Montreal, Aug 9 (IANS) Rafael Jodar maintained his impressive run at the Canadian Open with a dominant 6-3, 6-3 victory over eighth-seeded Jiri Lehecka of Czechia to enter the quarterfinals.

The 19-year-old is now up to a career-high No. 13 on the ATP rankings after winning seven of his last eight matches. He has now reached three consecutive Masters 1000 quarter-finals dating back to Madrid during the clay season.

With the victory, Jodar advanced to his seventh quarter-final in the eight tournaments he has played since the start of April.

Jodar is competing at a career-high No. 15 in the ATP Rankings this fortnight after beginning the season outside the Top 100. The 19-year-old, who won his maiden tour-level title in Marrakech in April, is seeking his second title of the season in Montreal, where he is making his tournament debut.

Next up for Jodar will be a third meeting of the season with Arthur Fils, who won the pair’s first meeting in Barcelona in April before Jodar gained his revenge last week in Washington.

Fils was a 6-2, 7-6(8) winner over Brit Cameron Norrie to wrap up play at IGA Stadium, converting on a sixth match point. This will be his fourth Masters 1000 quarter-final of the season after advancing to the final eight in Indian Wells, Miami and Madrid.

Elsewhere, Brandon Nakashima survived a dramatic mid-match suspension on Saturday in Montreal, returning to defeat Arthur Rinderknech 7-6(4), 5-7, 7-5.

At 4-4 in the final set of their clash at the Canadian ATP Masters 1000 event, both players were forced off court due to inclement weather. After a one-hour, 46-minute delay, Nakashima returned to close out a clutch victory and book his spot in the quarter-finals, ending a 0-5 record in previous Round-of-16 matches at this level, ATP reports.

Monday’s first quarter-final matchup will pit Nakashima against No. 19 seed Italian Luciano Darderi, who earlier battled past Nuno Borges 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 to reach his 10th quarter-final of the season, becoming the first player to achieve that feat.

–IANS

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