The winning fist clenched: Jannik Sinner showed a terrific match on Saturday. © BELGA / LAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ
It is impressive what Jannik Sinner delivered at the European Open (ATP 250) in Antwerp, Belgium on Saturday afternoon. His semi-final victory was a show of force, a tennis lesson, thanks to which he will now fight for his fifth ATP title on Sunday.
October 23, 2021
Author: it
Lloyd Harris is “only” number 32 in the world, but he is currently considered one of the most formidable players on the tour. The fact that he was snuffed away by Jannik Sinner (ATP 13) on Saturday in just 1.27 hours with 6: 2, 6: 2 shows how strong the Sextner is currently. The 20-year-old sometimes played cat and mouse with his opponent and offered tennis close to perfection over the entire match. It was one of the best games the young man from Pusteria played this year. The reward: His sixth overall ATP final, the fifth this season.
This will take place on Sunday afternoon. Opponent is either US boy Jenson Brooksby (ATP 70) or the Argentine Diego Schwartzman (ATP 14). The two tennis professionals face each other in the second semifinals on Saturday afternoon. Schwartzman is number 2 behind Sinner in Antwerp. In any case, the record in the finals gives the South Tyrolean courage: In five matches, he left the field as the tournament winner four times.
Sinner enchants the audience
His appearance on Saturday showed that the shooting star from Val Pusteria does not have to fear any opponents at the moment. Sinner showed almost no sign of weakness in the entire match on the fast underground in the hall in Antwerp, the first serves (the problem area of the last few weeks) came from a single source, the forehand was too tongue-in-cheek anyway and the slight mistakes were made count with one hand. It is understandable that the youngster delighted the audience. His opponent Harris was less enthusiastic, and he kept shaking his head helplessly at the beginning – a gesture that persisted throughout the game.
In the first set, Sinner pulled away with two breaks in a rush to 4: 0 and closed the set after a little more than 40 minutes. The second section began in the same key. The not badly playing Harris tried desperately to get access somehow, but he should not succeed. With two breaks, the South African was quickly 1: 4 behind. During his own service, Sinner only trembled once briefly when he had to fend off three break chances in the sixth game. Here the tall Pusterer kept his nerve in the style of a champion and turned his first match ball a little later.
