ATP Rotterdam – Quarter-final | Sinner passes Wawrinka obstacle, Daniil Medvedev in the last four

Jannick Sinner continues on its good momentum. Winner in Montpellier last week, the Italian easily passed his quarter-final against Stan Wawrinka (6-1, 6-3) after 1h10 of play. Fourteenth in the world will be opposed to Tallon Griekspoor, scorer of Gijs Brouwer (6-4, 6-4).

It’s the end of the journey, however, for the winner of Roland-Garros 2015. At the start of the week, the Swiss, currently 130th in the ATP rankings, beat Alexander Bublik (7-6, 6-4) and Richard Gasquet (6 -3, 6-3).

Medvedev goes on

For Félix Auger-Aliassime, the picture is necessarily much less encouraging. Not only did the title holder lose his crown, but he therefore seemed helpless this Friday, tripping over the web woven by the one who is decidedly his pet peeve. Faced with Medvedev, he still has not found the solution in five confrontations on the circuit. And if he could have legitimate hopes of achieving it based on their previous duel in Australia – he had obtained a match point a year ago -, the Canadian had to leave the Dutch court with many more doubts.

“F2A” too predictable and inconsistent

However, “F2A” had attacked the game with some clear and effective diagrams… at least at first. Taking advantage of the very remote position at the recovery of his rival, he thus attempted and succeeded in a certain number of serves and volleys during his first two engagements. But from the baseline, he was quickly neutralized. And from dashing to the net it became predictable, Medvedev settling with plenty of diving returns. Result: the protege of Frédéric Fontang and Toni Nadal conceded a break then two, and the first set, conceding five games in a row (from 1-2 to 6-2).

There was this revolt at the start of the second set when Auger-Aliassime made an immediate break after having abandoned his service too quickly (6-2, 2-3). But his tennis lacked a common thread to become even messy. A good uncrossed forehand acceleration was almost always followed by a big mistake on the same side or on the backhand. Voluntary but sometimes approximate in the placement, he especially forced his game. The fault mainly of a clinical Medvedev who found a deterrent ball length, but also the slowness of the surface despite the indoor conditions.

Auger-Aliassime especially paid for his inconsistency, committing no less than 28 unforced errors including a double fault to offer the fateful break to his opponent at 3-3 in the second act. If his start to the week was rather satisfactory, this jagged performance is not likely to reassure him. Returning to the ranks in recent months, Medvedev could well find inspiration, even if this requires confirmation.