On Wednesday, Italian teenager Jannik Sinner beat fourth seed and former champion Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4 3-6 7-5 to advance to the quarter-finals of the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships. Sinner's two-hour, 24-minute win is measured by the fact that his rival has already advanced to two finals this year, in Montpellier and Doha.

Until the final ball was struck, the tense battle was in control. Sinner, the No. 16 seed, won the first set after breaking to lead 5-4. Bautista Agut leveled the match in the second set by breaking to lead 5-3 before serving out the set. Sinner broke to lead 4-2 in the deciding set, and although Bautista Agut pulled it back to 4-4, a double fault at 6-5 gave Sinner a match point, which he tried to take full advantage of.

Sinner finished 2020 as the ATP Tour's No. 1 teenager, and he captured his second ATP250 title in Melbourne earlier this season. He won the 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan and advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2020 French Open, the first debutant to do so since Rafael Nadal in 2005.

Andrey Rublev, the second seed, cruised to a 6-3 6-1 victory over Taylor Fritz in just over an hour. Rublev won the match by fending off six breakpoints in the second set while leading 3-1.

Denis Shapovalov, the third seed, advanced to the quarter-finals with a 6-4 6-3 victory over Hubert Hurkacz, who was playing his 200th career match.

Shapovalov, 21, put in a positive performance to defeat an opponent he had lost to in both of their previous encounters. In what was still a close-fought first set, he still had the upper hand, breaking to lead 2-1 and fighting off a breakpoint to maintain a 5-3 lead before winning the set. He broke serve for 2-1 in the second set, and after failing to convert three more break points at 3-1, he broke serve once more in the final match. After losing two matches in the ATP Cup, losing in the third round of the Australian Open, and winning just one match last week in Doha, Shapovalov’s been waiting for his game to catch fire this season.

Shapovalov admits that he played some really good tennis. He had problems with Hubert in the past, and he's a fantastic player. Hubert has a lot of arms and is extremely difficult to play against, so he is thrilled to have his first victory against him.

“I feel I've put in a lot of good work with Misha Youzhny, particularly after the Australian Open,” Shapovalov continues. We had a strong training block, so I'm confident in my game. I'm hoping to play well again tomorrow, but again nothing is guaranteed.”

Karen Khachanov, the eighth seed, was defeated by Jeremy Chardy 6-7(3) 6-4 6-4. Chardy had 19 aces but had to battle for 2 hours and 35 minutes to beat Khachanov, who had struggled to capture the only break point of the first set before winning the tiebreak. The match's first break came late in the second set when Chardy took a 5-4 lead and served out to tie the match, and the deciding set was decided by only one break.

Kei Nishikori defeated Aljaz Bedene 6-4 6-4. Aslan Karatsev beat Lorenzo Sonego 3-6 6-3 6-4. Marton Fucsovics upset 11th seed Dusan Lajovic 6-1 4-6 6-4. Lloyd Harris defeated Filip Krajinovic 7-6(5) 6-4 in other matches.

Shapovalov will face Chardy in the quarterfinals. Karatsev will face Sinner, Rublev will face Fucsovics and Harris will face Nishikori.