Jannik Sinner continued his title defense at the Australian Open on Monday with a hard-fought win over Holger Rune in the fourth round.
The world No.1 struggled at times with his physicality during his 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, win over 13th-seeded Rune and sought medical treatment at one stage. Sinner produced a total of 32 winners and fired 13 aces past his Danish rival en route to victory. It is the 10th time he has reached the last eight of a Grand Slam event, which is a milestone that has only been achieved by one other Italian male player in history – Nicola Pietrangeli.
“It was very, very tough,” Sinner said of his latest match.
“I knew in my mind that he had some very long matches before this one. So I tried to stay there mentally. I just tried to stay connected with my service game. Then in the return games, I just tried to see what happens.
“Today the support (from the crowd) meant so much to me. I really needed you guys today.”
The roller-coaster match was full of twists and turns for both players. Midway through the third set, Sinner required a medical time out where he had his blood pressure and temperature taken before leaving the court. He was walking gingerly on his left side. Towards the end of the same set, it was Rune’s turn to seek medical help for treatment on his right knee. Then another unexpected delay occurred when the hook used to keep the net in place broke and required fixing.
“This morning was a very strange morning,” Sinner said without revealing what issue he was suffering from.
“I didn’t even warm up today, just trying to go on the court as fit as I could.
“I knew in my mind already before the match that I would struggle today. I have to say that game-wise, I played well and I served very well. It was quality shots which then gave me the confidence to fight on.”
When play resumed, Sinner extended his lead by hitting a clean forehand winner to break three games into the fourth frame. Rune, who was bidding to become the first Danish man to the quarter-finals in Melbourne, continued to fight but could not get back on level terms. The top seed then broke once again following a forehand mistake from his opponent for a chance to close the match out. He converted his first match point with a deep forehand that Rune couldn’t return over the net.
Sinner has now won 10 matches in a row against top 20 players on the Tour with his last defeat being to Carlos Alcaraz in Beijing. He will face either home favorite Alex de Minaur or America’s Alex Michelsen in the next round.