Top seed and defending champion Jannik Sinner, playing on his 24th birthday, ended French qualifier Terence Atmane’s dream run at the Cincinnati Open with a 7-6(4) 6-2 win on Saturday to reach the final of the U.S. Open tune-up event.
In the other semi-final, Carlos Alcaraz advanced with a 6-4 6-3 win over German third seed Alexander Zverev, who struggled physically during the match, to set up a rematch of this year’s French Open and Wimbledon finals.
Sinner won a remarkable 91 per cent of his first-serve points, did not face a single break point during the 86-minute match and converted two of five break points in his first career meeting with world number 136 Atmane.
“Very, very tough challenge,” Sinner said on court after being serenaded with “Happy Birthday” by the crowd. “Every time when you play against someone completely new it’s very difficult.”
The Italian world number one had his hands full throughout a tightly contested first set which featured an imperious serving display from both men and not a single break point opportunity for either player.
Sinner, who lost just three points on serve in the opening set, held to love for a third consecutive game to force the tiebreak where Atmane gifted his opponent the opening point with a double fault. From there the Italian never looked back.
The reigning U.S. Open, Australian Open and Wimbledon champion opened the second set with a nine-minute hold of serve, then held to love before finally breaking for a 3-1 lead that gave him the cushion he needed.
Sinner followed that with another hold to love to go 4-1 up and all but end any hope for Atmane, who beat top-10 players Taylor Fritz and Holger Rune en route to his maiden ATP Masters 1000 semi-final.
With Atmane serving to stay in the match, Sinner quickly jumped ahead 0-40 before sealing the win on his third match point when the Frenchman sent a forehand into the net.
The Alcaraz-Zverev encounter was interrupted for 11 minutes early in the first set while paramedics tended to a spectator as the two players stood and watched together from the net.
Shortly after play resumed, Alcaraz saved three consecutive break points to reach 2-2. Three games later the Spaniard sent a brilliant low backhand volley to the open court for a break and 4-3 lead before closing out the frame on his serve.
Alcaraz broke to open the second set but gave it right back in a game during which he gifted four double-faults to Zverev, who was suddenly struggling to move around the court and after the game sat against the back wall grimacing in pain.
Zverev did well to finish the match but was barely going through the motions in the latter stages as Alcaraz had a love hold to go 5-3 up and then sealed the match with a break at love.
“Happy for the final but feeling bad for Sasha,” Alcaraz wrote on the camera lens after his win. “Wish you all the best.”
