Sinner beats Wawrinka and reaches the semifinals in Rotterdam

Jannik Sinner is not satisfied yet. In the wake of the positive performances of the last two weeks which led him first to the title in Montpellier and subsequently also to take his revenge against Stefanos Tsitsipas, the South Tyrolean hits the second semifinal in a row in Rotterdam. The veteran Stan Wawrinka was eliminated in straight sets, with the score of 6-1 6-3 gained in one hour and 12 minutes of play. Tomorrow Jannik will face Tallon Griekspoor (n.61 Atp), who won the Dutch derby with a double 6-4 with Gijs Brouwer (n. 160 Atp).

“I am happy to have reached the semi-finals. I know Stan well, we’ve trained together many times: I consider him a great champion and a good person,” Sinner said in the post-match interview, still waiting to find out who will be his next opponent. “Tomorrow we start from scratch, it will be a tough game. Both next likely opponents are aggressive players but I’ll try to make my own. I will certainly have to adapt and make some adjustments because I haven’t faced similar players yet this week.” For the blue tennis player it is the first semifinal in a 500 since October 2021, the year in which he qualified for the penultimate act of the Vienna tournament.

Without history

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It begins with two break points in favor of the Italian tennis player who at 15-40 takes advantage of a long forehand from his opponent to put his nose forward. At the change of sides, after a slow start Wawrinka makes the heaviness and depth of his shots feel, forcing Sinner to defend himself from three break points, before being able to confirm his advantage. The hierarchies of the set are defined in the fifth game, when three more break points arrive for Sinner who, after putting in a recovery on a short ball, begins his escape and goes up 4-1 at the second chance also thanks to a wide backhand of the Swiss. It’s a double break in just 23 minutes. Wawrinka appears less and less lucid between cues and errors, while the blue is now in total control of the set, building up the points well and opening the field impeccably with his forehand, a shot that allows him to capture the 5-1. The Swiss also fails early on in his attempt to stay in the set and with a short ball into the net he delivers the break to make it 6-1 to his opponent.

Push and pull

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After a storyless first set, finished in less than half an hour, “Stan The Man” asks for help from the public to be able to end a negative streak of 5 consecutive games and reacts with a 1-1 draw. In the fourth game he loses his serve again but a small empty pass from Sinner rekindles his hope, thanks to the 3-2 counterbreak. And to think that the Italian had conceded only fifteen on serve from the initial 3-1 (71% of points won with the first and 67% with the second). In the eighth game Jannik returns to be master of the field and as soon as the opponent slows down, he attacks. At 15-40, in fact, a fulminating rightful answer solidifies the break of 5-3, which leads him to serve for the semifinals. The last game is fought, and only after two lost match points, Jannik signs the sixth consecutive victory.

The other semifinal

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In the lower part of the scoreboard, Daniil Medvedev and Grigor Dimitrov will clash in the semifinals, on the field tomorrow in the third match scheduled at the Central. The Russian, former n.1 in the world and seeded number six in the tournament, was quick to get rid of the Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime (n.8 Atp), eliminated in two sets with a score of 6-2 6-4 . The Bulgarian n.28 in the standings, on the other hand, took three sets to eliminate the Australian Alex De Minaur (n.25 Atp), out with a 6-3 3-6 7-6 (6) at the end of two hours and 33 minutes of play. Between Medvedev and Dimitrov there are no less than six precedents, with the tennis player from Moscow currently leading 4-2 in direct matches. The last match dates back to last year and took place right on the fast indoor court, on the occasion of the semifinals of the tournament in Vienna, where Medvedev prevailed 6-4 6-2.