Cincinnati Masters: Sinner stronger than Mannarino

Italian Jannik Sinner, the top seed, advanced to the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Masters by defeating French qualifier Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 7-6 (4) at the Lindner Family Tennis Center on Wednesday.

Serving for the match at 6-4, 6-5, Sinner seemed poised to clinch victory thanks to a single clinical break in each set. However, Mannarino produced some of his most inventive tennis to force the world No. 1 into a tie-break. Sinner then served flawlessly to seal the win after 1 hour 51 minutes, taking the breaker 7-4.

With 12 aces and 31 of 32 points won on his first serve, Sinner’s service game proved decisive in a match where Mannarino’s tricky left-handed delivery caused him problems.

Sinner will next face the winner of the clash between Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, the No. 23 seed, and Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi. The Italian has yet to drop a set in Cincinnati, having beaten Canada’s Gabriel Diallo, the No. 30 seed (6-2, 7-6 (6)), and Colombian qualifier Daniel Elahi Galán (6-1, 6-1) in the earlier rounds.

For Mannarino, ranked No. 89, this was his best Masters 1000 run since Miami 2023. In Cincinnati, he upset No. 13 seed Tommy Paul of the U.S. (5-7, 6-3, 6-4), No. 19 seed Tomáš Macháč of the Czech Republic (6-3, 6-3), and Australia’s Jordan Thompson (6-2, 6-2).

Cincinnati Masters 1000, other last 16 results (Lindner Family Tennis Center, hard, USD 9.193.540, most recent results first):

• Francisco Comesana vs. Andrey Rublev
• Karen Khachanov vs. Alexander Zverev
• Ben Shelton vs. Jiri Lehecka

• Luca Nardi vs. Carlos Alcaraz
• Taylor Fritz vs. Terence Atmane
• Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Benjamin Bonzi: wednesday
• Holger Rune (7) beat Frances Tiafoe (10): 6-4, 3-1 ret.