Nishikori upsets Tsitsipas to enter round 16 in Montreal

Kei Nishikori stunned World No. 11 Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-4 to reach the third round at ATP Masters 1000 level for the first time in three years on Thursday at the Omnium Banque National présenté par Rogers in Montreal.

The Japanese lefty who is currently world No. 576 earned his first Top 20 win since 2021 rolling back to the years with an impressive display against Tsitsipas to become the third lowest-ranked player to reach the last 16 at an ATP Masters 1000 event since the series began in 1990.

“It means a lot,” Nishikori said after reaching the third round. “I am playing well and feels I am back on track again, so I am really happy with the way I played today.

“Beating Stef is not easy and for me it is a great win,” Nishikori added. “I stayed aggressive and was not missing too many balls today. It was much better than the first round.”

The 2016 finalist, making his ninth appearance at the Canadian Masters 1000 tournament, will next face 12th-seeded Frenchman Ugo Humbert or Portugal’s Nuno Borges.

In 2015, Nishikori achieved a career-high ranking of No. 4 in the PIF ATP Rankings, and he has won twelve titles at the tour level. Due to his history of ailments, the 34-year-old had not won at the ATP Masters 1000 level since Indian Wells in 2021 before his victory over Alex Michelsen on Tuesday.

For his second Masters 1000 event, American qualifier Brandon Nakashima upset fellow countryman Tommy Paul 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-1 to advance to the third round. Nakashima will take on fifth seed Andrey Rublev or Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry later on.