World number 1 Jannik Sinner beat French veteran Adrian Mannarino 6.4 7-6 (7-4) in 1 hour and 48 minutes to reach his 16th Masters 1000 quarter final and his second consecutive in Cincinnati.
Sinner claimed the first set with a single break in the third game and earned another break point at 4-2. Mannarino saved it to remain within one break deficit. Sinner served out the first set at 5-4 before the match was interrupted by rain.
Both players held serve until the 11th game when Sinner earned a break to take a 6-5 lead. Mannarino pulled the break back with a forehand return winner in the 12th game setting up a tie-break when Sinner was serving for the match. Sinner won all six points on serve and earned a mini-break on the eighth point to win the tie-break 7-4.
Sunner extended his winning streak to his 24th victory on hard court.
“He is a very tough opponent. It is very different from other opponents, not only because he is a lefty but how he hits the ball. It is very low. I just tried to serve well and tried to see what I could do in the return games. He was serving very well, especially on the Ad side, on the wide one was very precise. I changed the position, trying to make him feel uncomfortable. I struggled a bit to close it out, but this can happen in this sport and I am very happy to be in the next round”, said Sinner.
