Daily Tribune
JANNIK Sinner races to his 32nd straight Masters 1000 win following a masterful 6-2, 6-4 triumph over Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open men’s singles event.
PHOTO courtesy of TIZIANA FABI/agence france-presse
ROME, Italy (AFP) — Jannik Sinner reached the semifinals of the Italian Open on Thursday after seeing off Andrey Rublev and establishing a new record of consecutive wins in Masters 1000 tournaments.
Another straight-sets victory, this time 6-2, 6-4 over Rublev, moved Sinner up to 32 straight wins in the ATP’s top-ranked events, one more than the previous record established by Novak Djokovic in 2011.
“I don’t play for records, I play just for my own story,” said Sinner on court.
“At the same time, it means a lot to me, but tomorrow is another day, another opponent, a different opponent.”
Rublev was Sinner’s first seeded opponent at this year’s tournament in Rome, and the world No. 1 made short work of his task in front of a delighted center court.
On Friday, Sinner could face Daniil Medvedev, winner of the 2023 title at the Foro Italico, with the seventh seed taking on lucky loser Martin Landaluce in the first match of the evening session.
Sinner looks near unbeatable at the moment, and with his great rival Carlos Alcaraz out injured, he is the heavy favorite to become the first Italian to win the Rome title in five decades, with a potential career Grand Slam on the cards at the French Open.
Rublev offered little resistance, the Russian dropping his own serve in the first game of both sets to give Sinner a handy leg-up, and committing 28 unforced errors in 18 games.
Sinner, meanwhile, showed flashes of his best tennis but also started to look tired towards the end of the match, visibly touching his left thigh before confidently serving for the match.
“I’m starting to feel that I’ve been playing a lot, so I need to recover as much as possible because tomorrow will be very difficult,” Sinner later told reporters.
“However, it will be a win for me if I win great, but even if things don’t go well, that’s okay because I’ll have a few more days to prepare for Paris, which is my main objective this year.”
Coco Gauff followed Sinner by reaching the Rome final for the second straight year after beating veteran Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 6-3.
The American star has struggled on clay this season, with a last-16 exit in the Madrid Open, coming after a disappointing run to the quarter-finals in Stuttgart.
But she dealt with Romanian Cirstea — who is set to retire at the end of the year — professionally as Spring sunshine burst out on centre court, helped by a marked improvement in her often erratic service game.
