Cincinnati (AFP) – Jannik Sinner ignored a mid-match rain interruption lasting nearly three hours as he booked his quarter-final spot at the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) victory over Adrian Mannarino. The world number one, playing his first tournament since lifting the trophy at Wimbledon, notched his 24th consecutive hardcourt match win to enter his fifth quarter-final of the season. The win required patience, with the Italian, who turns 24 on Saturday, passing some of the afternoon weather pause by playing cards with his team.
Sinner and Mannarino returned to action with Sinner leading 6-4, 1-2. But the Frenchman’s tricky game took a toll as Sinner was broken while trying to serve out a straight-set win. The second set instead went to a tiebreak, with the Italian firing his 11th and 12th aces to clinch victory. “He’s a very difficult opponent, different from the other players,” Sinner said. “He can read the opponent well. I tried to serve well today and tried to read his serve. I changed position to try and make him uncomfortable. It was a struggle to close it out, but I’m happy to be in the quarter-finals.”
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Sinner, the reigning Cincinnati champion, seemed to be shrugging off pressure with the US Open starting on August 24. “Every time I reach the quarter-finals it’s good for me. I’m aiming to raise my level. But if not, then I’m happy to have played three matches before the Open begins.”
Earlier, former champion Alexander Zverev polished off a weather-hit third-round victory, winning the final four points of a 6-4, 6-4 win over Brandon Nakashima. The entire one-game exercise, with 2021 Cincy winner Zverev leading 6-4, 5-4 when play resumed, took less than two minutes, with the third seed set for a later fourth-round encounter against Toronto finalist Karen Khachanov. Fifth seed Ben Shelton, last week’s Toronto winner, reached the fourth round with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 victory over Roberto Bautista Agut in a match rescheduled from Tuesday.
– Swiatek advances –
Women’s third seed Iga Swiatek and men’s seventh seed Holger Rune both booked quarter-final berths before afternoon showers struck. Wimbledon champion Swiatek beat Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 6-3, overcoming 33 unforced errors in a 95-minute victory. “I wanted to be more solid than in my last match,” Swiatek said. “I’m happy with the level of my focus and the consistency. It was a good match for sure. Not easy conditions as well, super humid, so I’m happy that I didn’t let this affect me.”
Rune advanced as 2024 finalist Frances Tiafoe retired with lower back pain with Denmark’s Rune up 6-4, 3-1. The match was a re-run of a quarter-final here a year ago, won by the American, who went on to fall to Sinner in the final. Tiafoe received treatment on his back, but it didn’t seem to help as Rune gained control. The American walked dejectedly off court, carrying only a pair of shoes while an official carted away his massive tennis bag. Rune, bothered this season by his own injury worries, secured his 100th career hard-court win and his first defeat of a top 20 opponent since he beat Carlos Alcaraz in the Barcelona final in April.
“I had a little slow start but I came back quickly and increased my intensity a lot,” Rune said. “I was moving the ball around well; in the middle of the first set, I started to play well.” In another match interrupted on Tuesday, Magda Linette reached the fourth round at Cincinnati for the first time with a 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 6-3 upset of fourth-seeded American Jessica Pegula. The 40th-ranked Pole had never won a set from the American, who was runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka in Cincy last year.
© 2024 AFP
