Jannik Sinner defeated Adrian Mannarino to reach the Cincinnati Open quarter-finals
Sinner had to overcome a lengthy weather delay to earn the win
Ben Shelton is also into the last 16 after having to wait two days to play his match against Roberto Bautista Agut
Jannik Sinner advanced to the Cincinnati Open quarter-finals with a straight-sets win over Adrian Mannarino, but had to overcome a lengthy weather delay.
Play was halted for two hours and 45 minutes early in the second set, but Sinner recovered to win 6-4 7-6 (7-4) and keep his title defence alive.
The Italian earned an early break in the first set, needing three attempts to take a 2-1 lead from which he did not look back, despite Mannarino holding off another break point later on.
Mannarino started the second strongly, though, holding his serve to go 2-1 up before the weather turned, forcing the long stop to play.
There was little to split the pair when they finally made it back onto the court, but Sinner once again earned an advantage, converting his fourth break point in the penultimate game.
Mannarino earned a vital break to force a tie-break, in which he took a 3-2 lead. However, Sinner won five of the last six points to reach the last eight and set up a meeting with either Felix Auger-Aliassime or Benjamin Bonzi.
Elsewhere, Ben Shelton is into the last 16 after having to wait two days to play his match against Roberto Bautista Agut.
Big weather delays pushed his match back from Tuesday to Wednesday, though the American earned a 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 win in the end.
Alexander Zverev had seen his own match interrupted on Tuesday while he held a 6-4 5-4 lead, and he wasted little time in winning the final game of the second set on Wednesday. He will now face Karen Khachanov in his last 16 tie.
Data Debrief: Sinner not slowing down on hard courts
It was not the most straightforward of matches for the world number one, but he got the job done by breaking down a stubborn Mannarino.
In doing so, he has reached a ninth consecutive ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final, becoming the fourth player since 1990 to achieve the feat after Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Sinner has won his last 24 matches on hard courts, the eighth-longest run on the surface, with his last such defeat coming against Carlos Alcaraz last October in Beijing.
