Denis Shapovalov (21st) put behind him a complicated first part of the match to overcome American Tommy Paul (31st) in three sets of 3-6, 6-4 and 6-3.
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After losing the first set, the Maple Leaf representative suffered two straight breaks in the second set, so Paul was two games away from victory. Never mind, Shapovalov won the next five games to force an extra set.
If he got into trouble with 10 double faults and a low rally rate of 35% with his second serve in this match, Shapovalov compensated by converting five of his 10 break points.
“Shapo” will now have the heavy task of facing the Russian Daniil Medvedev, the world’s number one racket. If he won the first two duels between the two men, the Canadian lost the last two.
Paul, for his part, had captured the attention at the National Bank Open, reaching the quarter-finals in Montreal with victories over Vasek Pospisil, Carlos Alcaraz and Marin Cilic before losing to Daniel Evans.