Rafael Nadal stepped closer to a record 35th Masters 1000 title on Thursday, dispatching Argentina’s Guido Pella 6-3, 6-4 Thursday to power into the ATP Montreal quarter-finals.

The Spanish world number two has now notched the most wins in the elite series, with his 379th Master’s victory surpassing Roger Federer by one.

Nadal, an 18-time Grand Slam singles champion, could add another Masters footnote to his epic resume if he successfully defends his Canadian crown for the all-time trophy mark.

He ended the evening with an ace out wide on his fourth match point, moving into his ninth Canadian quarter-final.

Nadal will play Friday for a semi-final berth against Italy’s Fabio Fognini after the seventh seed beat France’s Adrian Mannarino 6-2, 7-5.

The victory came in blustery conditions, which Nadal said were not a huge bother. He made good on an impossible sky hook reverse overhead at one point in the contest.

“It was a tough day in terms of wind, but we are used to playing like this,” he said. “It can be beautiful to play in tough conditions. The player with more options has a better chance to survive.”

Dominic Thiem reached the last eight by defeating Croatia’s Marin Cilic 7-6 (9/7), 6-4, the Austrian’s second victory in two days after waiting five years to break his duck in Canada. Second seed Thiem, who ousted home hope Denis Shapovalov on Wednesday, faced two break points in the final game against the 2014 US Open champion before

Odion Ighalo will be sanctioned by his Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua after the Nigerian striker angered fans with his social media posts while out injured.

The 30-year-old former Watford star has not played for Shenhua for three months because of injury, the Africa Cup of Nations, then a reported knee problem.

Ighalo has been having treatment in Spain but social media posts while there irked the club and fans, some of whom accused him of trying to engineer a move and spending more time relaxing than recovering.

The pictures and videos appear to have been deleted.

“This incident caused great concern to domestic media and fans, causing serious adverse social impact,” Shenhua said in a statement on the Twitter-like Weibo.

Shenhua, who recovered from a poor opening half of the Chinese Super League season and now sit 12th of 16 teams, added that they “attached great importance to this matter.

“(The club) criticised and educated Ighalo immediately and asked him to put all his energy into his rehabilitation and the club.”

Ighalo will be “punished according to the team’s regulations”, the statement said, without giving specifics.

Ilkay Gundogan, Pep Guardiola’s first signing as Manchester City manager in 2016, signed a three-year contract extension with the Premier League champions on Friday the club announced.

The 28-year-old German international midfielder — who was entering the final year of his present contract and will now be tied to the club to 2023 — played a pivotal role in City landing a domestic treble last term having also impressed in their 2018 title-winning campaign.

“Ilkay’s new deal is more excellent news for our Club,” City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain told the club website.

Mikel Obi’s Trabzonspor debut ended in a draw and a failure to last 90 minutes against Sparta Prague in Thursday’s Europa League third round first leg qualifying clash.

Trabzonspor fought back from two goals down to record a 2-2 draw in Prague.

Goals from Caleb Ekuban and substitute Alexander Soerloth for the Turkish club cancelled out strikes from Costa Nhamoinesu and Guelor Kanga.

The 32-year-old, who joined Trabzonspor, on a two-year deal, was handed a starting role in the draw and was cautioned in the 32nd minute of the match.