Sinner beats Murray 2-0 and wins the quarterfinals in Dubai

He does not like to talk about the break with the former coach, indeed he does not speak at all. He prefers to focus on the tournament and on the wave of enthusiasm that the arrival of Simone Vagnozzi has brought him. After the first exit, rather hesitant but still winning against Davidovich Fokina, Sinner took the field against Murray with a different attitude closing in crescendo up to beating a double Olympic champion and former world number 1 Andy Murray 7-5 6-2.

The thickness of the rival, although 35 years old and bruised, was very different and perhaps even more stimulating for the boy from South Tyrol. Still a few straight mistakes too many, but a more solid service than the first outing in Dubai and a much more proud and self-confident attitude. Jannik thus equals the result of last year, and for a place in the semifinals he will have to contend with his friend and rival Hubert Hurkacz with in Dubai he is also registered in doubles. “Concentrated and calm? At the beginning not so much – he said after the match – I was nervous because Andy is a champion and I had already lost to him. It is special to play against a legend in this sport, he had operations and difficult moments but the his fighting spirit is extraordinary and I wish him much luck. ”

The match

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In the first set the first break chance for the Italian top 10 is at 2-2 with Murray going under 15-40 and then manages to keep the beat thanks to a couple of Sinnerian gifts. In the 5th game the danger is for Jannik, who gets back from 40-0 to 40-30 before a bad backhand from Murray grants him the pardon. The turning point arrives in the 11th game, with a finally perfect Sinner who conquers three break opportunities, breaks the serve from the Scotsman and goes to serve for the set, won 7-5. Taking advantage of the positive wake of the last few games, Jannik, who in the second set immediately goes ahead by a break and at 3-1, in an interminable game, he even manages to stretch again, snatching the joke from the former number 1 in the world. From there it is a monologue by the South Tyrolean who closes 7-5 6-2 while still feeling the thrill of having two match points canceled.