Top-seeded Jannik Sinner advances to Cincinnati Open final
Sinner will face familiar foe Carlos Alcaraz in the final after the No. 2-seeded Spaniard cruised past No. 3 Alexander Zverev of Germany 6-4, 6-3.
The two last met in the final at Wimbledon a month ago, when Sinner broke an Alcaraz five-match winning streak in the rivalry to claim his first-ever Wimbledon championship.
The defending champion in Cincinnati, Sinner reached his eighth consecutive ATP Masters 1000 final and extended his winning streak on hard courts to 26.
Both big servers, Sinner and Atmane routinely held serve in the first set, combining for 12 aces and just one double fault. But the southpaw Atmane missed both serves on the first point of the tiebreaker and never recovered, dropping it 7-4.
Sinner, who was celebrating his 24th birthday, finally broke serve in the fourth game of the second set and finished the job with another break in the final game.
"(A) very, very tough challenge," Sinner said in the on-court interview after the match. "Every time you play someone completely new, it's very difficult. Playing against these guys in the later stages of tournaments makes it even more difficult. The pressure is higher, you know they deserve to be there."
Sinner was highly complimentary of Atmane, who entered the event ranked No. 136 in the world. The Frenchman defeated top-10 players Taylor Fritz and Holger Rune to reach the semifinals. He has vaulted up to a career-best 69th in the rankings.
"He's beaten incredible players to reach the semifinals. I knew I have to be very careful," Sinner said Saturday. "My mindset today was in a good spot. I handled the situations on the court very well. He was serving incredibly well the first set. He has huge, huge potential -- I think we saw this throughout the tournament.
"I wish him only the best. From my side, I'm very happy to be in the finals again."
Sinner won 49 of 60 points (81.7 percent) on his serve in the warm Cincinnati conditions and did not face a break point in the match.
Alcaraz had to overcome the more acclaimed Zverev in the nightcap. But he did so in emphatic fashion, hitting 27 winners in a match that lasted 1 hour, 45 minutes, due in part to Zverev physically struggling.
"We started the match really good, playing good rallies, a good level of tennis," Alcaraz said. "But then all of a sudden he started to feel bad. And then my focus, I was thinking about how he's feeling, besides focusing on myself and playing good tennis. It was a really difficult situation for me and I just wish him all the best."
The Spaniard notched 11 aces while converting 29 of 61 (48 percent) return point opportunities.
Although Alcaraz has never won the championship in Cincinnati, this will be his second finals appearance after a near-miss against Novak Djokovic in 2023. And Alcaraz is eager to face Sinner once again.
"We raise our level to the top and we bring a really beautiful tennis to the match," Alcaraz said. "I'm ready to take the challenge. I'm ready to see the things that I did wrong in the last match and trying to be better on that side on Monday."
--Field Level Media/Reuters
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Top-seeded Jannik Sinner advances to Cincinnati Open final
Top-seeded Jannik Sinner of Italy shook off an early challenge from upstart Terence Atmane of France and advanced to the finals of the Cincinnati Open with a 7-6 (4), 6-2 victory. Sinner will face familiar foe Carlos Alcaraz in the final after the No. 2-seeded Spaniard cruised past No. 3 Alexander Zverev of Germany 6-4, 6-3. The two last met in the final at Wimbledon a month ago, when Sinner broke an Alcaraz five-match winning streak in the rivalry to claim his first-ever Wimbledon championship. The defending champion in Cincinnati, Sinner reached his eighth consecutive ATP Masters 1000 final and extended his winning streak on hard courts to 26. Both big servers, Sinner and Atmane routinely held serve in the first set, combining for 12 aces and just one double fault. But the southpaw Atmane missed both serves on the first point of the tiebreaker and never recovered, dropping it 7-4. Sinner, who was celebrating his 24th birthday, finally broke serve in the fourth game of the second set and finished the job with another break in the final game. "(A) very, very tough challenge," Sinner said in the on-court interview after the match. "Every time you play someone completely new, it's very difficult. Playing against these guys in the later stages of tournaments makes it even more difficult. The pressure is higher, you know they deserve to be there." Sinner was highly complimentary of Atmane, who entered the event ranked No. 136 in the world. The Frenchman defeated top-10 players Taylor Fritz and Holger Rune to reach the semifinals. He has vaulted up to a career-best 69th in the rankings. "He's beaten incredible players to reach the semifinals. I knew I have to be very careful," Sinner said Saturday. "My mindset today was in a good spot. I handled the situations on the court very well. He was serving incredibly well the first set. He has huge, huge potential -- I think we saw this throughout the tournament. "I wish him only the best. From my side, I'm very happy to be in the finals again." Sinner won 49 of 60 points (81.7 percent) on his serve in the warm Cincinnati conditions and did not face a break point in the match. Alcaraz had to overcome the more acclaimed Zverev in the nightcap. But he did so in emphatic fashion, hitting 27 winners in a match that lasted 1 hour, 45 minutes, due in part to Zverev physically struggling. "We started the match really good, playing good rallies, a good level of tennis," Alcaraz said. "But then all of a sudden he started to feel bad. And then my focus, I was thinking about how he's feeling, besides focusing on myself and playing good tennis. It was a really difficult situation for me and I just wish him all the best." The Spaniard notched 11 aces while converting 29 of 61 (48 percent) return point opportunities. Although Alcaraz has never won the championship in Cincinnati, this will be his second finals appearance after a near-miss against Novak Djokovic in 2023. And Alcaraz is eager to face Sinner once again. "We raise our level to the top and we bring a really beautiful tennis to the match," Alcaraz said. "I'm ready to take the challenge. I'm ready to see the things that I did wrong in the last match and trying to be better on that side on Monday." --Field Level Media/Reuters
GMA Network
2 days ago
- GMA Network
Carlos Alcaraz survives rough third set to reach Cincinnati Open semis
In the third and final set of his Cincinnati Open quarterfinal match against Andrey Rublev on Friday afternoon, Carlos Alcaraz committed 15 unforced errors and authored three double faults. And, yet, the second-seeded Spaniard found a way to claim a 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 victory over the ninth-seeded Russian in Mason, Ohio. "I maintained positive thoughts all the time, even though I lost focus a few times during the second set," Alcaraz said. "Playing someone like Andrey, when you lose focus on two or three points, it (can) cost you the set or almost the match. I just stayed strong mentally and that's what I'm most proud of." Alcaraz squandered a 5-3 lead in the third set, but then he held his serve and then broke Rublev for the fourth time to set up Saturday's semifinal against No. 3 Alexander Zverev of Germany. Alcarez prevailed, in part, because Rublev made even more miscues in the third set. He racked up five double faults and 17 unforced errors in the third after committing just three double faults and 17 unforced errors in the first two sets combined. That included a double fault on match point that had Alcaraz pumping his fist over his 15th straight victory in an ATP Masters 1000 event. "It's just (about) accepting the moment, accepting that I am playing a third set, accepting that it's going to be a really tough battle, and I love that," Alcaraz said. "It was extreme conditions, but I just love playing in front of this energy. I am just really happy to live these kinds of experiences, so I just remind myself of that in these moments." Zverev maintained his dominance of Shelton, moving to 4-0 against the fast-rising American since their first meeting in Cincinnati last summer with a surprisingly routine 6-2, 6-2 triumph. Shelton seemed to be in control early, leading 40-0 in the third game of the first set. But Zverev took advantage of four consecutive errors, and when a Shelton volley went wide, he had the break he needed. Zverev would earn another break in the fifth game and cruise to the first-set victory. The same pattern repeated itself in the second set, as Shelton was broken in games 3 and 5 and watched his nine-match winning streak come to a screeching halt in only 1 hour, 17 minutes. Zverev only made 13 unforced errors in the match and won 15 of Shelton's 19 second-serve points. Zverev's biggest concern of the night was his own health. He called for the doctor at 2-1 in the second set as he appeared to be struggling with this breathing. "Right now I'm not feeling too great... I'm not sure what happened," the 2021 Cincinnati champion said. "I came out today and probably felt the best I've felt in a few months. Was feeling the ball incredibly well from both sides. In the first set I started feeling not so great and it got progressively worse. But I'm in the semi-finals and I'll do everything I can (to) be 100 percent tomorrow." Zverev leads Alcaraz, 6-5, in the all-time series and they have split outdoor, hard-court matches, 2-2. The two have not faced off since November 2024. --Field Level Media/Reuters
GMA Network
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