TORONTO, August 10, 2018 (News Wires) - A 45-minute rain interruption did little to stop the progress of Rafael Nadal Friday at the Toronto Masters as he defeated Stan Wawrinka 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) to reach the quarter-finals. 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. "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 Friday." 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. "I just played not that great. "I didn't return well. It wasn't that great of a match."
