Canada Open: Rafael Nadal holds off determined Stan Wawrinka to set up quarter-final clash against Marin Cilic

Toronto: A 45-minute rain interruption did little to stop the progress of Rafael Nadal on Thursday at the Toronto Masters as he defeated Stan Wawrinka 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) to reach the quarter-finals. [caption id=“attachment_4938831” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Rafael Nadal beat three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka in straight sets in spite of an interruption due to rain. AP[/caption] The halt in proceedings came 63 minutes into the opening set, after Wawrinka saved a Nadal set point for 5-all, with the Spaniard then holding serve for 6-5. When the weather passed, the pair returned, with Nadal wrapping up the set on his second chance. The second set was a battle as the Swiss, a three-time Grand Slam champion, fought back from an early break down, took a 2-1 lead, with the pair again trading breaks in the fifth and tenth games. Nadal came from a mini-break down in the tiebreaker and secured victory on his second match point. “It was a good match, a very positive victory for me over a tough opponent,” Nadal said, adding, “I’m happy to see Stan playing well again. We had a good quality of tennis. I’m very pleased, I needed a match like this. It does much for the confidence.” Nadal’s win was his 17th from 20 played against Wawrinka. Second seed Alexander Zverev, the holder, lined up a re-run of last week’s Washington semi-final as he again takes on Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Greek who turns 20 on Sunday knocked out his second seed in as many matches, stunning Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals. Zverev rolled over Russian Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-2 in 52 minutes while never facing a break point. Tsitsipas called his knockout of Djokovic, “the best match of my career. I knew I was playing pretty good today.” The number 27 will play the first Masters 1000 quarter-final of his career. “He played very well and deserved to win without a doubt,” Djokovic said, adding, “I just played not that great. I didn’t return well. It wasn’t that great of a match.” Bulgarian fifth seed Grigor Dimitrov laboured for almost two and a half hours to subdue Frances Tiafoe of the United States 7-6 (7/1), 3-6, 7-6 (7/4). He next faces Wimbledon runner-up and fourth seed Kevin Anderson who defeated Ilya Ivashka of Belarus 7-5, 6-3 to also make the last-eight. Sixth seed Marin Cilic continued his quiet progress, beating Argentine 11th seed Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-2. Canadian teen Denis Shapovalov went down to Robin Haase, losing 7-5, 6-2, ending local interest. The Dutch winner will take on Karen Khachanov, who beat eighth seed John Isner 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/1)