China Open: Sinner advances to semifinals, books clash with de Minaur

BEIJING: World number two Italian tennis superstar Jannik Sinner’s blazing finish helped him outclass Fabian Marozsan and advance to the semifinal of the China Open on Monday.

Sinner managed to rally from being a break down and won final three games of the match to win 6-1, 7-5. After dominating in the first set, the Italian had to produce some extraordinary tennis to escape a 4-5 deficit and set a showdown with top 10 star Alex de Minaur.

“I feel like I started off very well in the first set and we both played very well in the second set,” said Sinner as quoted by an ATP website.

“I had some big chances at 4-3 but could not use them. He is someone whose peak is very high, I knew that before the match. When he was serving for the set, he made a couple of unforced errors, which helped me, of course, to come back and win in two.”

“It is psychological of course, too, but it’s also how you arrive at these moments. I tried to fight, had some tough service game holds from 0/30 a couple of times. I am happy with how I fought today,” he concluded.

Sinner enters the semifinals of Beijing for third time and 2023 champion will play de Minaur for a spot in the final. The third seed advanced to the semis as his quarter-final opponent, Jakub Mensik, was forced to retire when trailing 1-4 in the first set due to injury.

Sinner has a perfect 10-0 record against De Minaur, and he is currently number two in the ATP Live Race to Turin, having qualified for the season-ending ATP Finals. Sinner has reached the last four in seven out of his previous eight tournaments this year. (ANI)