Teenager Dominic Stephan Stricker produced the shock of the day at the Stuttgart Open as he knocked out second seed Hubert Hurkacz in the round of 16.
The 18-year-old wildcard, ranked 335 in the world, claimed a straight sets victory courtesy of tie-breaks, as had been the case in his previous outing against Radu Albot.
And his reward for a 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-5) win over a man placed 315 places higher than him in the men's rankings is a quarter-final tie against Sam Querrey.
The American sealed his passage into the last eight by beating qualifier James Duckworth 6-4 7-6 (9-7) on Thursday.
Top seed Denis Shapovalov's place in the next round remains in doubt going into Friday after the Canadians clash with Feliciano Lopez was cut short by rain with both men having taken a set.
The winner of that final set will face former world number three Marin Cilic, who comfortably beat Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-3 6-2.
Another Canadian also remains in the draw in the form of third-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime after his 6-3 7-6 (7-4) win over Lloyd Harris.
There, he will face sixth seed Ugo Humbert after his straight sets win over wildcard entry Yannick Hanfmann.
The quarter-final line-up is completed by fourth seed Alex de Minaur, who beat compatriot Jordan Thompson, and Jurij Rodionov, whose progress was aided by Peter Gojowczyk's first-set retirement.
Sabalenka completes Wuhan Open hat-trick
Aryna Sabalenka overcame home favourite Zheng Qinwen 6-3 5-7 6-3 to claim a third straight crown at the Wuhan Open.
US Open champion Sabalenka has an immaculate record at the WTA 1000 event, where she extended her dominance on Sunday.
The showdown was a rematch of this year's Australian Open final, in which Sabalenka also came out on top.
She is now unbeaten in four matches against Zheng, this year's Olympic champion.
Having required just 38 minutes to take the first set, Sabalenka was pegged back in the second, eventually succumbing after saving four break points.
Yet the Belarusian regained the impetus in the decider, swiftly taking a double-break lead and hardly looking back from there.
Data Debrief: Queen of Wuhan does the three-peat
What a year it has been for Sabalenka, and after previously winning in Wuhan in 2018 and 2019, the world number two completed a hat-trick of trophies in style. She has played 17 times at the tournament and is yet to lose a match.
Sabalenka, who has won four trophies this year, is the second player, after Serena Williams at Miami (2013 to 2015), to win a WTA 1000 event in three consecutive editions of the tournament.
China is something of a home away from home for the 26-year-old, too. She is now the player to have won the most WTA-level titles on Chinese soil in the Open Era (five).
Meanwhile, Sabalenka and world number one Iga Swiatek are the pair with the most combined wins at WTA 1000 events (58) in a single season, surpassing Williams and Maria Sharapova in 2013 (57).
Sinner hopes to see 'legend' Djokovic on the big stages for years to come
Jannik Sinner hopes to see Novak Djokovic fit and firing at the biggest tournaments for years to come.
Djokovic proved no match for Sinner as the world number one prevailed 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 on Sunday to win the Shanghai Masters.
Sinner's dominant display denied Djokovic what would have been his 100th ATP Tour-level title, albeit that trophy is bound to come sooner rather than later for the 37-year-old.
With Rafael Nadal having confirmed his retirement earlier this week, Djokovic is the final member of "the big four" remaining, following Andy Murray's retirement earlier this year.
And 23-year-old Sinner, who is now even at 4-4 in his head-to-head record with Djokovic, hopes to see the Serbian remain at the top of the game.
"It's so nice to see you still playing incredible tennis, you keep showing it year after year," Sinner told Djokovic during the trophy presentation.
"You are doing an incredible job, I wish you all the best, not only for this season but for staying healthy next season and hopefully seeing you as long as possible here on big stages."
Speaking to Sky Sports, Sinner said: "It was a very tough match, playing against Novak is one of the toughest challenges.
"He was serving great the first set, I couldn't find a way to break him, and then I played a very good tie-breaker which gave me confidence for the second set.
"Very happy with my performance through this whole tournament – a very special moment.
"[Djokovic [doesn't] have any weaknesses. You have to use the very small number of chances he gives you but there are not many through a whole match.
"You try to believe in every moment. He's a legend of our sport, he's very tough to play against so I'm very happy."
Sinner is the first player to claim three consecutive wins head-to-head against Djokovic since Nadal in 2013.
The Italian is only the fifth player aged 23 or under in the Open Era to win 6+ hard-court ATP titles in a calendar year after Jimmy Connors (1973), Ivan Lendl (1981), Pete Sampras (1994) and Roger Federer (2004).
Federer and Carlos Alcaraz were present in the stands during Sunday's showdown, and Djokovic quipped that only added to the pressure.
"It's really nice to see Roger, I'm not used to seeing you in the stands, I wish you were on the court playing with us," he said.
"It's probably the first time I played in front of you, so I had an added pressure, but thank you for being here. And Carlos as well."
Speaking to Sinner, Djokovic said: "Congratulations to Jannik, you were just too good today and you're having an incredible year – you deserve this.
"Congratulations to his team, as well, for a great week – well done, I'm really glad you guys are doing well, you deserve this."
Djokovic made to wait for 100th title as Sinner reigns supreme in Shanghai
Novak Djokovic's wait for his 100th ATP Tour title rolled on as Jannik Sinner cemented his place at the top of the world by claiming the Shanghai Masters title.
With Carlos Alcaraz and Roger Federer watching on from the stands, world number one Sinner turned in a sensational show of force to dispatch Djokovic 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 on Sunday.
Sinner needed just one hour and 39 minutes to wrap up his third ATP 1000 title of a remarkable season in which he has now won 65 matches.
The Italian did have to get the better of Djokovic in a tie-break to win the opener, but broke the Serbian great on three occasions to settle it in his favour.
Sinner kept up that momentum in the second set, though, with some slack shots from Djokovic enabling the 23-year-old to claim the crucial break in game four.
And with Djokovic unable to handle Sinner's powerful serve, the latter sealed the championship at the first time of asking, adding a seventh title to his haul for 2024.
Data Debrief: Sinner's statement of intent
Since 2015, Sinner – who has only lost six times this year – is just the fourth player to win at least seven Tour-level titles in a single season, after Djokovic (2023, 2016 and 2015), Federer (2017) and Andy Murray (2016).
At the age of 23 years and 58 days, Sinner has become the youngest player to win the Shanghai Masters and the youngest to clinch at least three ATP 1000 titles in a calendar year since Rafael Nadal (22 years and 334 days) in 2009.
Sinner is only the fifth player aged 23 or under in the Open Era to win six ATP titles on hard court in a single year after Jimmy Connors (1973), Ivan Lendl (1981), Pete Sampras (1994) and Roger Federer (2004).
He is also the first player to claim victory at consecutive ATP 1000 tournaments since Djokovic in 2020.
Sinner now holds a record of 28-3 at ATP 1000 events in 2024. Since the format's inception in 1990, only four players have achieved more match wins in a season - Federer, Nadal, Murray and Djokovic.
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