A perfect birthday for the number one tennis player in the world: Jannik Sinner reached the final of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati on Saturday, his 24th birthday. After a concentrated performance, the South Tyrolean defending champion beat Frenchman Terence Atmane 7:6 (4) and 6:2 in the semi-finals. This is the fourth time in the last four Masters tournaments that Sinner has reached the final.
Tight first set and a nice gesture
Before the match, Atmane made for a likeable scene when he presented birthday boy Sinner with a Pokémon card as a gift in the players' tunnel. The first set was characterized by extremely strong serving from both players, meaning that there was not a single break point. Consequently, the match had to be decided in a tie-break. Sinner proved his class here, winning 7:4 and thus laying the important foundation for victory.
Brief period of weakness and dominant finish
Sinner experienced a brief, difficult moment at the start of the second set and seemed to be struggling with slight breathing problems. However, the world number one quickly recovered, made the decisive break to take a 3:1 lead and then gave his opponent no chance. After just 1 hour and 26 minutes of play, he confidently converted the match point to make it 6:2.
In the final on Monday, Sinner will be fighting to successfully defend his title and will face the winner of the match between the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz and the German Alexander Zverev.
