Rublev Beats Top-seeded Defending Champion Sinner to Reach Montreal Semifinals

MONTREAL, CANADA - AUGUST 10: Andrey Rublev celebrates a 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 victory against Jannik Sinner of Italy in the Men's Singles quarterfinals round match during Day Five of the ATP Masters 1000 National Bank Open at Stade IGA on August 10, 2024 in Montreal, Canada. Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images/AFP
MONTREAL, CANADA - AUGUST 10: Andrey Rublev celebrates a 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 victory against Jannik Sinner of Italy in the Men's Singles quarterfinals round match during Day Five of the ATP Masters 1000 National Bank Open at Stade IGA on August 10, 2024 in Montreal, Canada. Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images/AFP
TT

Rublev Beats Top-seeded Defending Champion Sinner to Reach Montreal Semifinals

MONTREAL, CANADA - AUGUST 10: Andrey Rublev celebrates a 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 victory against Jannik Sinner of Italy in the Men's Singles quarterfinals round match during Day Five of the ATP Masters 1000 National Bank Open at Stade IGA on August 10, 2024 in Montreal, Canada. Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images/AFP
MONTREAL, CANADA - AUGUST 10: Andrey Rublev celebrates a 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 victory against Jannik Sinner of Italy in the Men's Singles quarterfinals round match during Day Five of the ATP Masters 1000 National Bank Open at Stade IGA on August 10, 2024 in Montreal, Canada. Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images/AFP

Fifth-seeded Andrey Rublev outlasted top-seeded defending champion Jannik Sinner 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 on Saturday night to reach the semifinals in the rain-delayed National Bank Open, The Associated Press reported.
Rublev beat Brandon Nakashima 6-2, 6-2 earlier Saturday, while Sinner also was playing his second match of the day after topping beat Alejandro Tabilo 6-4, 6-3 in the afternoon.
Rain washed out play Thursday night and all of Friday as remnants of Tropical Storm Debby rolled through, putting the event set to end Monday behind schedule.
Sinner missed the Olympics because of tonsillitis after a quarterfinal loss at Wimbledon. In January, the Italian star won the Australian Open final for his first Grand Slam title.
Rublev has victories this year in Madrid and Hong Kong. The 26-year-old Russian will face Matteo Arnaldi in the semifinals. Arnaldi beat Kei Nishikori 6-4, 7-5 in the late match.
The other two quarterfinals were pushed back to Sunday. Second-seeded Alexander Zverev was set to face Sebastian Korda, the winner last week in Washington, while fourth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz was scheduled to play Alexei Popyrin.
Zverev beat 13th-seeded Holger Rune 6-3, 7-6 (5).
Korda topped ninth-seeded Taylor Fritz 6-4, 7-6 (4) in a second-round match that was originally scheduled for Thursday night, then moved on after sixth-seeded Casper Ruud withdrew because of illness.
Popyrin beat seventh-seeded Grigor Dimitrov 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3. Hurkacz beat Thanasi Kokkinakis 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6) in the second round, then topped Arthur Rinderknech 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.



Coach Says Lyles Had 102 Fever When He Won Bronze; Says He’ll Be Back for 2028 Olympics

 Noah Lyles, of the United States, dons a face mask following his men's 200-meters final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP)
Noah Lyles, of the United States, dons a face mask following his men's 200-meters final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP)
TT

Coach Says Lyles Had 102 Fever When He Won Bronze; Says He’ll Be Back for 2028 Olympics

 Noah Lyles, of the United States, dons a face mask following his men's 200-meters final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP)
Noah Lyles, of the United States, dons a face mask following his men's 200-meters final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP)

The night American sprinter Noah Lyles won a bronze medal, he had a fever of around 102 degrees Fahrenheit (39 Celsius), according to his coach Lance Brauman.

It’s what made that medal, in his last sprint at the Paris Olympics, all the more impressive to Brauman, who described the sprinter’s condition and future Friday in an interview with The Associated Press.

Lyles tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday and finished third in Thursday’s final behind Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo and American teammate Kenneth Bednarek.

“Those guys raced great,” Brauman said. “But to get a bronze medal in 19.70 with a temperature of about 102, that wasn’t too bad.”

To Brauman, the performance ranks right up there with the one Lyles delivered to win gold in the 100 on Sunday.

“It’s hard to replace a gold medal in the 100 meters at the Olympic Games ... that one was probably the most important medal,” Brauman said. “How did he put it, we talked about it — he will have the most satisfaction out of the bronze.”

The 27-year-old Lyles was back at the track Friday night wearing a protective mask while accepting his bronze medal. He did a lap around the track waving to fans but kept his distance from Tebogo and Bednarek.

There will be other chances, Brauman said, because Lyles is just entering his prime.

“He’s going to be really good through LA at least, and then we’ll see what happens after that,” Brauman said of the next Olympics in 2028. “I just need him to keep doing what he’s doing.”

Lyles made no secret about his goal to win three gold medals at these Olympics, the way Usain Bolt did on his way to superstardom. He’ll leave Paris short of that goal, but nobody will forget the roller-coaster ride he produced: a .005-second victory in the 100, followed by a bronze while running with COVID.

“I mean, he was sick,” Brauman said. “People are going to say whatever they want, and that’s fine, but the dude was sick.

“What he had to do to muscle out that medal, that’s going to be hard to forget.”