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Tennis: Nadal stays on track in Toronto with win over Cilic

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Agence France-Presse

Rafael Nadal recovered from a slow start, overcoming Marin Cilic 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 as the Spaniard&#x27;s chase for a long-sought ATP Masters title on hardcourt heated up on Friday.The world number one reached the semi-finals in Toronto and will next face Russian Karen Khachanov, who beat Robin Haase 6-3, 6-1.Nadal last won a title at this level on cement in 2013.&quot;It was a very important match for me,&quot; Nadal said. &quot;Being in semi-finals is great news at the start of the hard court season.&quot;And winning three good matches in the first Master 1000, it&#x27;s so important for me.&quot;He played unstoppable in the first set. I resisted, I played with the right tactic. I tried to find my solutions - but it was so difficult.&quot;Stefanos Tsitsipas saved two match points to beat defending champion Alexander Zverev in their quarter-final contest 3-6, 7-6 (13/11), 6-4.The Greek teenager, who turns 20 on Sunday&#x27;s final day, defeated his third straight top 10 opponent at the tournament after knocking out Dominic Thiem in the second round and 13-time major winner Novak Djokovic in the third.Tsitsipas is the youngest player to post three top 10 wins at a single tournament since the 19-year-old Nadal at Monte Carlo in 2006.Tsitsipas will next face Wimbledon runner-up Kevin Anderson, who beat Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-2. &quot;I&#x27;m confused now, is this real?&quot; 27th-ranked Tsitsipas said after completing his prestige hat-trick of upsets.Nadal got caught on the back foot in the first set against Cilic, who took the opener on his fourth chance.Nadal struck back in the second with a concluding break to square the match before taking victory with a break in the final game on his third match point after more than two hours.Tsitsipas rallied from a set and 5-2 down to turn the tables on Zverev, who had been bidding for a fourth Masters 1000 title. Tsitsipas broke in the ninth game of the second on the way into a tiebreaker, where he calmly converted on his fifth set point after saving two match points for the second-seeded Zverev.Tsitsipas then salvaged four break points for 2-1 in the third, he traded breaks with the German and saved another trio of break points for a 5-4 lead.He completed the victory after nearly two and a half hours on Zverev&#x27;s sixth double-fault.&quot;This shows that with dedication and work, dreams do come true,&quot; Tsitsipas said. &quot;I can see that it&#x27;s real -- it&#x27;s happening.&quot;I don&#x27;t know what happened (in the second set), I just broke him (for 4-5). All along I could feel the crowd support, I knew I was still in the match.&quot;- Canadian rematch - Anderson&#x27;s sweep past reigning ATP World Tour Finals champion Dimitrov was a rematch of their 2014 quarter-final duel in Canada when Dimitrov claimed one of his six wins against the South African.&quot;It definitely was a great match today. I felt I played really well right from the beginning,&quot; Anderson said.&quot;Right from the first point till the last, I felt I was in a really good frame of mind, playing the kind of tennis that I knew I wanted to be playing and needed to be playing.&quot;&quot;Getting off the court pretty comfortably definitely is a really good feeling.&quot;The big South African rolled into the semis in just 66 minutes, breaking four times while managing only a modest 11 aces. str/gph<div>© Agence France-Presse</div>

Rafael Nadal recovered from a slow start, overcoming Marin Cilic 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 as the Spaniard's chase for a long-sought ATP Masters title on hardcourt heated up on Friday.

Rafael Nadal recovered from a slow start, overcoming Marin Cilic 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 as the Spaniard's chase for a long-sought ATP Masters title on hardcourt heated up on Friday.