Jannik Sinner Battles Past Injury And Zverev To Reach Cincinnati Final

Add as a preferred source on Google

Jannik Sinner expressed pride in overcoming a challenging moment to reach the Cincinnati Open final after a dramatic victory over Alexander Zverev in a third-set tie-break. Sinner, who struggled with a hip injury during parts of the match, eventually won 7-6 (11-9), 5-7, 7-6 (7-4) in over three hours.

Zverev started strong and was close to serving out the first set until Sinner levelled at 5-5. Rain interrupted play, but Sinner returned to take the early advantage. Zverev, who had won all four of their previous encounters, responded by taking the second set, pushing the match to a decider.

Sinner picked up his hip injury in Madrid back in May and further aggravated it during his quarter-final defeat by Andrey Rublev at the Canadian Open. "It means a lot to me. It's a very different moment, what I'm going through, so I'm very happy about this result," Sinner said in an on-court interview. "The physical aspect, of course, I have to improve because if I want to win grand slams or a bigger title, I have to be more in shape. But I just tried to stay there mentally, which I'm very proud of, and let's see what's coming tomorrow."

In the final set tie-breaker, neither player faced a break point. However, Sinner took control by dropping just one point on serve and sealed his triumph when Zverev sent a backhand long.

Sinner's victory made him the first Italian in the Open Era to reach the men's singles final at the Cincinnati Open. He also became the first since 1973 to claim five or more ATP top-five wins in consecutive seasons.

The world number one will face Frances Tiafoe next. Tiafoe reached his maiden ATP Masters 1000 final after defeating 15th seed Holger Rune in three sets.

Since the start of the 2023 season, Sinner has won 15 of his 20 matches on hard court against opponents ranked in the ATP's top five. World number two Novak Djokovic has six wins on hard court over that span.

"Monday plans have arrived #CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/yFuUcL1mIc" - Cincinnati Open (@CincyTennis) August 19, 2024