Top-seeded Jannik Sinner of Italy shook off an early challenge from upstart Terence Atmane of France and advanced to the finals of the Cincinnati Open with a 7-6 (4), 6-2 victory.
Sinner will face the winner of the night match between No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and No. 3 Alexander Zverev of Germany in Monday’s final.
The defending champion reached his eighth consecutive ATP Masters 1000 final and extended his winning streak on hard courts to 26.
Both big servers routinely held serve in the first set, combining for 12 aces and just one double fault. But the southpaw Atmane missed both serves on the first point of the tie-breaker and never recovered, dropping it 7-4.
Sinner, who was celebrating his 24th birthday, finally broke serve in the fourth game of the second set and finished the job with another break in the final game.
“(A) very, very tough challenge,” said Sinner in the on-court post-match interview. “Every time you play someone completely new, it’s very difficult. Playing against these guys in the later stages of tournaments makes it even more difficult. The pressure is higher, you know they deserve to be there.”
Sinner was highly complementary of Atmane, who entered the event ranked No. 136 in the world. The Frenchman defeated top-ten players Taylor Fritz and Holger Rune to reach the semi-finals. He has vaulted up the rankings to a career-high No. 69.
“He’s beaten incredible players to reach the semifinals. I knew I have to be very careful,” Sinner said Saturday. “My mindset today was in a good spot. I handled the situations on the court very well. He was serving incredibly well the first set. He has huge, huge potential — I think we saw this throughout the tournament. I wish him only the best. From my side I’m very happy to be in the finals again.”
Sinner won 49 of 60 points (81.7 percent) on his serve in the warm Cincinnati conditions and did not face a break point in the match.
–Field Level Media
