Sinner extends winning streak, advances to Cincinnati Open semi-finals

World No. 1 Jannik Sinner easily defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime at the Cincinnati Open, claiming his first win over the Canadian and advancing to the semi-finals of the tournament. The dominant 6-0, 6-2 victory on P&G Center Court confirmed Sinner's status after previous defeats.

Sinner had lost both of his previous encounters with Auger-Aliassime, winning just one set. However, those defeats came in 2022, before Sinner reached the Top 10 in the ATP rankings. Now, as the world No. 1, the Italian has demonstrated his remarkable progress.

“I felt like I returned serve really well today. I think that was the key, giving me the confidence to serve well. I lost a little bit in the second set when he broke my serve. It was maybe a small change, but I was happy to break him so early,” Sinner said after the match. He won 80% (16/20) of the points from Auger-Aliassime’s second serve.

Sinner also praised his opponent: “He is a very difficult opponent because of his good serve, his skillful movement. He has incredible stamina and a very good forehand. But we prepared well, both tactically, and I feel like I played a great match today.”

Sinner has yet to drop a set in Cincinnati, and he recorded the fastest win of 2025 in his opening-round victory in Ohio, beating Daniel Elahi Galan in just 59 minutes. By overcoming Auger-Aliassime in 71 minutes, the Italian came close to matching that mark.

Auger-Aliassime struggled in the opening set, making 13 unforced errors. The 23rd seed led 2-0 early in the second but quickly fell behind. He made eight double faults and failed to find his rhythm from the baseline, while the top seed was too consistent to win. Sinner will face either Holger Rune or Terence Atmane in the next round.

“I felt great on the court today. I think you saw that, but every day is different. Tomorrow is a day off, which is good for me. We will try to train more and see what I can do in the semi-finals,” Sinner added.

With this victory, Sinner extended his winning streak on hard courts to 25 matches. The Italian is only the fifth player this century to achieve 25 consecutive wins on hard courts, joining Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray. The Italian's last defeat on hard courts was to Carlos Alcaraz in the final in Beijing in October.

Entering his first tournament since winning his first Wimbledon title, Sinner is 30-3 on the season. Just seven wins away from 300 career wins, Sinner became the second player to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals in November, joining Alcaraz.

Sinner and Alcaraz will be locked in a fierce battle for the year's number one title in the remaining months. Alcaraz currently leads Sinner by 1,440 points at the ATP Live Race To Turin, with the Spaniard set to face Andrey Rublev in the Cincinnati quarter-finals on the evening of August 15.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/sinner-noi-dai-mach-chien-thang-tien-vao-ban-ket-cincinnati-open-20250815065112619.htm