A year after his last win against Alex de Minaur at the NextGen ATP Finals in Milan, Jannik Sinner scored another memorable win against the Australian at the Sofia Open on Thursday. The Italian recovered from a one-set deficit and beat De Minaur 6: 7 (3), 6: 4, 6: 1 in two hours and 11 minutes.
Sinner won 80 percent of his first serve points (43/54) and kept his nerves under pressure as he saved six of the seven breakpoints he faced. “The key in great moments is balance on the pitch to understand how tall I have to be,” said Sinner.
“The important points when you serve are trying to serve on first serve and maybe then it will be a little easier to win the point.” I focused on that and tried to let him play in a corner because he moving so fast …
My tactic was to stay in a corner and try to play a little faster than him. “Sinner, who has a 17:11 record in 2020, is in his second ATP Tour semi-final of the year. The semi-finalist of the bett1HULKS Championship is aiming for his first ATP Tour title match this week.
After Sinner lost the first set in a tiebreaker, he made an unlikely 3: 3 break to turn the match in his favor. De Minaur quickly had a 40-0 lead on serve, but Sinner played aggressively on his forehand to dominate his opponent.
After Sinner had saved breakpoints to close the second set, he headed for victory in the third set. The Italian prevailed in the short rallies and had the winners to open a 5-1 lead.
De Minaur began to make mistakes trying to score points and Sinner made it to the semifinals when de Miñaur landed a forehand behind the baseline. Sinner meets Adrian Mannarino for a place in the championship game.
The Frenchman reached his second semi-final in three weeks with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 win over Radu Albot. Nur-Sultan’s runner-up hit seven aces and broke the serve three times to make his first semi-final in Sofia.
Since taking part in the bett1HULKS championship in Cologne last month, Mannarino has won 10 of his 13 games. “Adrian is a tough player, a left-hander who serves well and moves well in long rallies.
Adrian Mannarino and Richard Gasquet continue their way to the semi-finals
Thursday was a great day for French tennis players at the Sofia Open. Both Adrian Mannarino and Richard Gasquet reached the semi-finals of the last ATP 250 of the season.
The day’s activity was opened by Mannarino, fifth in the draw and current number 35 in the world, who took two hours and a minute to deal with some suffering in three sets 6-2, 1-6 and 6-3 against the Moldovan to insist Radu Albot.
After a comfortable first set that broke his rival’s serve twice, he slowed down and needed a third set to advance to the semi-finals. In the next round Mannarino meets the young Italian Jannik Sinner, who (3) Australian Alex de Minaur defeated 6: 7, 6: 4 and 6: 1.
Richard Gasquet later used all his experience to exclude the Italian Salvatore Caruso from the tournament. The 34-year-old experienced Frenchman won in straight sets of 7-6 and 7-5 after an hour and 55 minutes.
Gasquet bounced back in the tiebreaker and later missed the opportunity to end the competition when he served 5-4. The other, who made it to the semi-finals, was the strong Canadian server Vasek Pospisil, who practically didn’t have to try too hard to eliminate the Australian John Millman with 6-3 and 6-2.
Pospisil left no doubts and will now measure up with Gasquet to hand out one of the two tickets for the final. Without a clear favorite, only four players remain in the Bulgarian tournament.
It will be a physical match, “said Sinner.” I have to talk to my coach about how I’ll play tomorrow and try to be prepared. ”
