First top 3 win! Sinner exacts revenge upon Tsitsipas in Rotterdam
Jannik Sinner defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday evening. He’ll play Swiss Stan Wawrinka in the next round
Jannik Sinner at the ATP Open Sud de France in Montpellier
Image Credit: JB Autissier / Panoramic
Italian Jannik Sinner defeated Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, the top seed, 6-4, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals of the Rotterdam Open at the Rotterdam Ahoy on Thursday evening.
The Italian banks his biggest career win by ranking against the world No 3, and exacts a bit of revenge for a hard-fought loss at the hands of Tsitsipas in the round of 16 at the Australian Open last month. Tsitsipas entered Thursday’s contest with a 5-1 record against the 21-year-old Italian.
But Sinner was able to change the tone of the head-to-head with a steady, focused effort that increased his current winning streak to five victories. Last week’s Montpellier champ never faced a break point and dropped just seven points on serve across the one hour and 21-minute contest.
“It means a lot,” Sinner said on court after his win. “[We put] a lot of work behind [this victory]. I played some good tennis, very focused today. Hopefully I can keep it going.”
Sinner: “A very important win”
“For sure Stefanos is an incredible player,” added Sinner. “I have a lot of respect for him and he played some incredible tennis this year already. So I was looking forward to this match to be honest, yesterday already, after after my win.
“Head-to-head, I am still far back from him, so for me this is a very important win. I lost a tough one in Australia where I felt like I was playing great.”
Sinner, ranked No 14, will play Swiss Stan Wawrinka next.
“I’m very happy that he is playing again at a very high level,” Sinner said of Wawrinka. “I played last year at Wimbledon against him, and he has improved a lot from that point. I know him quite well. He’s a hard worker so it’s gonna be a tough match – for sure different than today.”
In the previous round of the Rotterdam tournament, the 21-year-old Italian won against Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi (6-2, 3-6, 6-1).
Tsitsipas, ranked No 3, won against Finn Emil Ruusuvuori (7-5, 6-1) in the previous round of the Rotterdam tournament.
Rotterdam ATP250, other second-round results (Rotterdam Ahoy, hard, EUR 2.074.505, most recent results first):
- Holger Rune vs. Gijs Brouwer
- Alex De Minaur beat Maxime Cressy: 7-5, 3-6, 6-3
- Daniil Medvedev (6) beat Botic van de Zandschulp: 6-2, 6-2
- Felix Auger-Aliassime (3) beat Gregoire Barrere (Q): 6-4, 6-3
- Tallon Griekspoor (WC) beat Alexander Zverev (8): 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
- Grigor Dimitrov beat Hubert Hurkacz (5): 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5)
- Stan Wawrinka beat Richard Gasquet: 6-3, 6-3
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