Fairytale ends: Sinner prevails, snaps Spanish teen back to reality

MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Jannik Sinner ended the inspired run of teen home favorite Rafael Jodar with a 6-2, 7-6 (7/0) victory in the Madrid Open on Wednesday to complete his set of semifinals reached at all nine Masters 1000 tournaments.

The 19-year-old Jodar has taken the tour by storm this clay season, winning a maiden ATP title in Marrakesh, and making the semifinals in Barcelona and the quarterfinals in Madrid before he was stopped by the world No. 1 at the Caja Magica.

This time last year, Jodar was playing college tennis for the University of Virginia and was ranked 687 in the world. He will crack the top 35 when the new rankings are released on Monday.

Sinner was seriously tested before he extended his current winning streak to 21 consecutive matches.

The world No. 1 will face Jiri Lehecka or Arthur Fils in Friday’s semifinal.

“He pushed me to the limit. He’s an incredible player. I tried to be ready as much as I could. First time playing against him,” Sinner said.

“I’m incredibly happy. It has been a very high-quality match. Got lucky a bit in the second set, but also a little bit of experience. And so I’m very happy about today’s match and obviously very happy to be the first time here in semis. It means a lot to me.”

The first-set scoreline may have read 6-2 but it was far from a routine affair for Sinner, who found himself facing a young opponent who could match his firepower, particularly on the forehand wing.

The Italian was tested in multiple service games, including a marathon one at 2-2, and had to save a pair of break points before he took a one-set lead in 44 minutes.

Leaning on the rowdy home support that included several Real Madrid stars, past and present, Jodar skirted danger at the start of the second set and put pressure on the Sinner serve.

But despite his best efforts, Jodar couldn’t convert any of the five break points he created as Sinner leveled for 4-4.

The set fittingly went to a tiebreak, which was dominated by Sinner, who won the last 11 points of the match to advance to his first Madrid semi-final.

Lucky loser Anastasia Potapova reached the first WTA 1000 semi-final of her career with a hard-fought 6-1, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3 performance against former world number one Karolina Pliskova.

The world No. 56, who knocked out Grand Slam champions Elena Rybakina and Jelena Ostapenko in the previous two rounds, awaits Marta Kostyuk or Linda Noskova in the final four.

Having recently switched allegiance from Russia to Austria, Potapova is the first player representing Austria to reach a WTA 1000 semi-final, and the first lucky loser to make it this far at a tournament of this level.

“It feels great, I wouldn’t lie,” the 25-year-old said.

“I’ve been given a second chance, and I’ve been using it very good. It actually can happen in tennis, so that’s why I think it’s one of the most beautiful sports we have. If I was given it, maybe I deserve it, so, yeah, I’m very happy.”