Sinner and Monfils move closer to final showdown in Sofia

The top two seeds, Jannik Sinner and Gael Monfils, moved closer to a final showdown at the ATP Sofia Open after scoring quarter-final wins on Friday.

20-year-old Sinner, the defending champion, came from a break down in each set to defeat last week’s Nur-Sultan runner-up James Duckworth 7-6(4), 6-4.

The win moved Sinner up to No. 10 in the ATP Race to Turin, which determines the eight players who will qualify for the ATP Finals at the end of the season.

“It feels very good to be honest,” Sinner said as quoted by the ATP Tour. “Today was a very tough match. I lost the last one against him in Toronto and he was in a very positive situation, winning a Challenger, making the final last week. It was not easy for me and it was a very close match, especially the first set.”

The Italian will take on fifth seed Filip Krajinovic in the semi-finals on Saturday. The 37th ranked Krajinovic defeated Polish lucky loser Kamil Majchrzak 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.

Monfils to play first-time ATP semi-finalist Giron next

Second seed Gael Monfils, playing his first match of the week after a first-round bye and a second round walkover, defeated Italy’s Gianluca Mager 6-2, 6-2 to reach his second semi-final in as many weeks.

The Frenchman will face American Marcos Giron next. Giron upset eighth seed John Millman 6-4, 6-2 to reach his first ATP Tour level semi-final.

It will be the first meeting between Sinner and Krajinovic, as well as between Monfils and Giron on the ATP tour.

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