ATP Tour

Merida reaches maiden M1000 QF in Montreal, Tien matches Roddick

Daniel Merida advanced to his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final on Sunday at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers, where his breakthrough season hit further heights in Montreal.

The 21-year-old produced one of the best performances of his year to dispatch a physically depleted Tallon Griekspoor 6-3, 6-1 in just 69 minutes.

Merida arrived in Montreal having never earned a tour-level win on hard courts but has looked impressive throughout his standout run in Canada, where he has also defeated Alex Michelsen, Ugo Humbert and Liam Draxl.

“I feel amazing playing here. I knew I have the level after winning my first title a few weeks ago and I am just aiming to give 100 per cent every point,” said Merida, who was deadly on the backhand against Griekspoor. “I try to play solid on my backhand and I think I’ve always had a good backhand. I try to hit it as much as possible and here it feels really great.”

Merida started the season outside the Top 160 but is now at No. 40 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, guaranteeing a Top-50 breakthrough. Last month, the 21-year-old captured his maiden tour-level title at the ATP 250 event in Umag.

Merida had previously never been beyond the third round at a Masters 1000 event (Madrid 2026) but will be aiming to continue his dream run on Tuesday when he faces 12th seed Learner Tien.

Griekspoor upset top seed Alexander Zverev en route to the fourth round but struggled to find enough intensity against Merida. The Dutchman hit two costly double faults on serve in the second set to twice lose his serve, and from a set and 0-4 behind, the mountain to climb was too high.

In the second match of the day, the 20-year-old Tien downed Thiago Agustin Tirante 6-4, 6-4 to become the youngest American men’s quarter-finalist in Canada since Andy Roddick, 19, in 2002.

"I thought during rallies it was tough because it was really windy today," Tien said. "I felt like the ball was swirling in every rally. I saw the ball well on return."

Tien is into his second quarter-final at this level overall, having enjoyed a run to the last eight in Indian Wells earlier this year, when he lost to eventual champion Jannik Sinner. The lefty Tien, a titlist on clay in Geneva earlier this year, has also defeated Tommy Paul and Gael Monfils this week in Canada.