Jannik Sinner flies to the final in the ATP tournament in Halle, Germany. In the semi-final on German grass, the world number 1 beat the Chinese Zhizhen Zhang, number 42 in rafting, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) in 1h40′. Sinner, chasing his fourth title of the season and the 14th of his career, faces Hubert Hurkacz in the final tomorrow: the Pole, number 5 in the draw, beats the German Alex Zverev 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 in a semi-final match in which he shot 17 aces and saved 4 crucial break points.
Jannik’s words
Against Zhang “it was a tough match, with more rallies than yesterday and that’s what I needed. Today Zhang played well. He served and returned well, I had to be very careful, I saved a set point in the second. But on the anything can happen on grass”, said the South Tyrolean, according to some also against Hurkacz “it will be very tough and very balanced“. “He plays very well on grass. It will still be a good day, I will try to have fun, I hope to show some good tennis,” he said.
Sinner’s match
Sinner’s match today ran smoothly for 8 games, dominated by the serve. At 4-4, Zhang has the first slightest failure: the Chinese offers a break point, for Sinner it is enough and advances to break the balance (5-4) and close the first set 6-4 on automatic pilot: 68% of first balls and practically unassailable serve (17 points out of 19 with the first serve).
The script of the second set seems to be a photocopy of that of the first half. The service dictates the law, and we proceed without shocks until the twelfth game. Down 5-6, Sinner runs into a double fault which offers his rival a break point and a set point at the same time: the blue saves himself, tie-break. The world number 1 wins a minibreak lead and never looks back, finishing 7-3.
