Jannik Sinner came back from one set down to beat Roman Safiulin 3-6 6-2 6-3 to seal a spot in the quarter final on the Capital Group Diamond Court at the China Open in Beijing. With this win the 2024 Australian Open and US Open champion has maintained his record of having reached the quarter finals at every tour-level tournament he has played in 2024.
Sinner rallied from a set down for the second consecutive match at this tournament after beating Nicholas Jarry 4-6 6-3 6-1 in the opening round earlier this week.
Sinner tied Alexander Zverev for the most victories on the ATP Tour this season.
Safiulin converted his third break point in the second game and held serve to 30 to open up a 3-0 lead. Sinner broke back in the fifth game for 2-3. Safiulin broke for the second time in the sixth game and served out at 15 to win the first set 6-3.
Sinner bounced back in the second set serving three of his four aces. The Italian player won two service games at love and won seven straight games from 2-2 in the second set to take control of the match.
Sinner broke serve in the sixth and eighth games to seal the second set 6-2.
Sinner never looked back and earned an early break in the second game of the third set to open up a 3-0 lead. The world number 1 missed the first match point in the ninth game, but he booked his spot in the quarter final at the second time of asking after 2 hours and 22 minutes setting up a quarter final match against Jiri Lehecka, who came back from one set down to beat Roberto Bautista Agut 3-6 6-2 6-1. “It was a tough match. Safiulin is an incredible player and we always tough battles. This was our third encounter, so we know each other a bit. He returns very well, and he was serving well at important moments. So I tried to keep up mentally, which today was very tough. Especially on these kind of days, when maybe you don’t feel at your 100 percent, to find a way through means so much to me. He is an incredible player, so I knew I had to raise my level when it counted”, said Sinner.
