Jannik Sinner has reached the first quarter final of his career at the Australian Open after a 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 6-4 win over Alex De Minaur. Sinner has dropped just one set in his four matches at this tournament.
Both players went on serve in the first three games. Sinner saved three break points in the fourth game to hold serve after three deuces. Sinner earned his first break point in the seventh game but De Minaur fended it off to hold serve. There were no breaks in the next games until the tie-break. Sinner earned an early mini-break, but De Minaur pulled back on serve to draw level to 2-2. Sinner earned two mini-breaks to win the tie-break 7-3.
Sinner went up a set and a break at the start of the second set and held on his next service games to secure a two-set lead. The five-time ATP Tour titlist earned a double break in the first and fifth games to open up a 4-1 lead. De Minaur pulled one break back in the sixth game, but Sinner held on his next service games to seal the third set. Sinner won 75% of his first serve points and 81% of points at the net.
“I think in the beginning I was just serving well. He had more chances than me in the first set, then after that I tried to push a little bit more, especially in the tie-break, which made the difference. Then I went into my confidence, and I tried to move him a little bit, but it’s very tough playing against Alex, especially here in Australia. He always plays very well”, said Sinner.
Sinner will make his second appearance in a Grand Slam quarter final after reaching this stage at Roland Garros in 2020 before losing to Rafael Nadal.
The Italian 20-year-star has extended his lead to 3-0 in his head-to-head matches against De Minaur following his previous wins in the title match at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan in 2019 and in Sofia.
Sinner joins his compatriot Matteo Berrettini in the quarter finals at the Australian Open. It’s the first time in the Open Era that two Italian players have reached this stage in a Grand Slam tournament since 1973 when Adriano Panatta and Paolo Bertolucci achieved this feat at Roland Garros. Berrettini beat Pablo Carreno Busta in yesterday’s fourth round to become the first Italian player in history to reach the quarter finals in each of the fourth Grand Slam tournaments.
Sinner has become the youngest player to reach the quarter finals at the Australian Open since Nick Kyrgios in 2015.
“Last year was a long year. I played myany tournaments for the first time. I have gained a lot of experience in the past few months. I have grown as a player and also as a person. At 20 you can only grow. I am very happy to be here to be in the quarter finals.
Sinner will face either Stefanos Tsitsipas or Taylor Fritz. The Italian player coached by Riccardo Piatti trails 1-2 against Tsitsipas and 0-1 against Fritz.
After his win over Taro Daniel in the third round last Saturday Sinner talked about the possibility of working with John McEnroe, who could join his coaching team. McEnroe had already worked with Milos Raonic helping the Canadian player reach the Wimbledon final in 2016. Raonic was formerly trained by Sinner’s coach Riccardo Piatti.
McEnroe talked about the possibility of joining Piatti’s team in Eurosport’s Cube during the Australian Open.
“I am definitely available on a part-time basis, helping Sinner getting over the hump, which I believe he will get over whether I coach him or not. I told Riccardo Piatti I can save him some time if he wants some time to get this young, beautiful Italian player to step up. I would love to”, said McEnroe.
Sinner confirmed that he would like to work with McEnroe.
“When John speaks, he is a tennis legend. He has won many tournaments, he was a great player. I would like to be coached by him. Let’s what comes out”, said Sinner.
