Nadal ends Tsitsipas’ Toronto Run, claims 80th title of his career

Toronto: Rafael Nadal won his 80th ATP World Tour title Sunday — and spoiled Stefanos Tsitsipas’ 20th birthday.

The top-ranked Nadal beat the unseeded Greek upstart 6-2, 7-6 (4) for his fourth Rogers Cup crown and fifth victory of the year. He has 33 ATP World Tour Masters 1,000 titles.

The 32-year-old Spanish star also won the Rogers Cup in Toronto in 2008 and Montreal in 2005 and 2013.

Nadal later announced that he would skip a Masters tournament in Cincinnati this week to rest and get ready for the U.S. Open.

Nadal’s win Sunday was notable. His previous four titles this year came on clay at the French Open, Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome. He also beat Tsitsipas in the Barcelona final.

Tsitsipas reached the final by becoming the youngest player to beat four straight top-10 players in an event since the ATP World Tour was established in 1990. He began the run against seventh-seeded Dominic Thiem, then knocked off No. 9 Djokovic, No. 2 Alexander Zverev and No. 4 Kevin Anderson.

This post was published on August 14, 2018 5:15 pm