Defending champions Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka powered into the quarter-finals of the rain-disrupted ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open on Wednesday, each posting straight-sets victories to continue their title defences.
Sinner battled through a mid-match rain delay of nearly three hours to defeat France’s Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 7-6(4), extending his hardcourt winning streak to 24 matches. The world No. 1, competing in his first tournament since his Wimbledon triumph, booked his fifth quarter-final of the season.
The Italian, who turns 24 on Saturday, showed poise throughout a stop-start afternoon. He had taken the first set and was on serve in the second when the rain came. To pass the time, he played cards with his team in the locker room.
After the resumption, Mannarino’s tricky, unorthodox style troubled Sinner, who was broken while serving for the match. But the top seed responded strongly in the tiebreak, firing his 11th and 12th aces to seal the win.
“He’s a very difficult opponent — very different from most players,” Sinner said. “He reads the game well. It was a bit of a struggle to close it out, but I’m happy to be in the quarter-finals.”
Sinner will next face Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, who eased past France’s Benjamin Bonzi 6-4, 6-3.
Meanwhile, Aryna Sabalenka reached her 29th career WTA 1000 quarter-final — and her season-leading 50th match win of 2025 — with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.
After a dominant first set, Sabalenka found herself in a second-set battle, surrendering a break before regaining control and breaking serve to clinch the win in just under 90 minutes.
“The key was to stay focused and apply pressure on her serve,” the world No. 3 said. “I made a couple of mistakes after going up a break, but I’m happy to finish in straight sets — I didn’t want to be out here for three hours again.”
Sabalenka had been stretched to three sets in her previous match against Emma Raducanu.
Swiatek, Rune advance
Earlier in the day, women’s third seed Iga Swiatek and men’s seventh seed Holger Rune also advanced to the quarter-finals before rain once again interrupted the schedule.
Swiatek overcame 33 unforced errors to defeat Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 6-3 in 95 minutes.
“I wanted to be more solid than in my last match,” said the reigning Wimbledon champion. “I’m happy with my focus and the consistency today.”
Rune progressed after American Frances Tiafoe, a finalist here in 2024, retired with a lower back injury. The Dane was leading 6-4, 3-1 when Tiafoe, clearly struggling, walked off court in frustration, carrying only his shoes as a tournament official carted away his gear.
The win marked Rune’s 100th career victory on hard courts and his first win over a top-20 opponent since defeating Carlos Alcaraz in the Barcelona final in April.
Third seed Alexander Zverev resumed his weather-delayed third-round match and needed less than two minutes to close out a 6-4, 6-4 win over Brandon Nakashima, winning the final four points after play resumed with him leading 5-4 in the second set.
Zverev, the 2021 Cincinnati champion, is scheduled to face Toronto finalist Karen Khachanov in the next round.
Also through is fifth seed Ben Shelton, fresh off his title win in Toronto. He beat Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6(3), 6-3 in a match carried over from Tuesday.
Elsewhere, Poland’s Magda Linette reached the fourth round in Cincinnati for the first time with a 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3 upset win over fourth-seeded American Jessica Pegula in another rain-interrupted encounter.
AFP
