Jannik Sinner beat Karen Khachanov 6-3 7-6 (8-6) on his favourite hard-court surface to reach the semifinal at the Bett1 Aces exhibition tournament in the hangar of the Tempelhof Airport in Berlin.
Sinner held on his first two service games and got the first break in the fourth game after an incredible passing shot to take a 3-1 lead. Sinner dropped a point in his next three service games.
The second set went on serve until the fourth game, when Sinner saved a break point to draw level to 2-2. The World number 73 earned two break points, but Khachanov saved them for 2-3. Sinner saved two break points with his forehand in the sixth game. The second set came down to the tie-break. Sinner reeled off four points from 1-1 to take a 5-1 lead and held on his serve to win the tie-break 7-3. Sinner won 73 % of his first serve points.
Sinner will face Roberto Bautista Agut in the semifinal.
“I played the most important points against Khachanov well. We are good friends. I like playing indoors. The conditions were similar to those I faced at the Next Gen ATP Finals. Bautista Agut is a solid player. He moves fast. I will try to play my game”, said Sinner.
Svitolina came back from one set down to beat Kvitova in the women’s final
Elina Svitolina came back from one set down to beat Petra Kvitova 3-6 6-1 10-5 in the first women’s final of the Bett1 Aces. The final was moved from grass to hard-court due to rain and light issues.
Svitolina came back from losing the first set 3-6 to win the second set 6-1. The match came down to the match tie-break, where Kvitova prevailed 10-5 in just 11 minutes to clinch the title. Kvitova made 30 unforced errors to Svitolina’s 13.
