Sinner beats Brooksby to reach final in Washington, D.C.
Jannik Sinner is through to his fourth career ATP final after getting the best of Jenson Brooksby in straight sets on Saturday in Washington, D.C. Sinner will bid for his third title.
Jannik Sinner Miami Open 2021
After easily defeating Steve Johnson in the Citi Open quarter-finals on Friday, Jannik Sinner kept it simple while explaining his approach to tennis.
“I have a racquet. There is a ball. I try to hit it.”
That is exactly what he did on Saturday, as well — and he hardly could have done it any better. Facing a red-hot Jenson Brooksby, Sinner blasted the American off the court during a 7-6(2), 6-1 semi-final victory. The 19-year-old needed one our and 29 minutes to book a spot in his third ATP final of the season.
Sinner saves three set points
Of course, it was not quite as simple as using a racquet to hit a tennis ball. Sinner also had to display a ton of mental toughness in order to survive a tense first set. With the Italian serving at 5-6, Brooksby jumped out to a 0-40 lead for a triple-set point situation. Nonetheless, Sinner saved all three and eventually reeled off five points in succession to hold for 6-6.
That proved to be the one crucial turning point of the match. Maintaining momentum from that service hold, Sinner raced through the ensuing tiebreaker seven points to two. Keeping his foot on the gas pedal, the world No 24 went on to break serve at 2-1 and 4-1 in the second. He won the last five games of the match to storm across the finish line in style.
Sinner committed only 12 unforced errors throughout the entire afternoon while striking six aces compared to just one double-fault. He also won 84 percent of his first-serve points and 69 percent of his second-serve points. Aside from the three set points at 5-6 in the opener, Sinner did not give Brooksby any other break chances.
Brooksby back to the drawing board
For Brooksby, his run in Washington, D.C. has come to an end but his hot streak is not necessarily over. The Sacramento, Calif. native will break into the top 100 on Monday thanks in part to a stretch of incredible tennis that includes four Challenger finals (three titles), successful qualification at the French Open, a runner-up performance in Newport, and now a semi-final showing at the Citi Open.
For his efforts, Brooksby has been rewarded with a wild card into next week’s National Bank Open in Toronto. As a result, the former Baylor University star has a chance to keep his momentum going on the North American hard-court swing.
As for Sinner, he awaits either Kei Nishikori or Mackenzie McDonald in Sunday’s final.
