Rotterdam [Netherlands], February 17 : Jannik Sinner extended his unbeaten run in the 2024 season as he advanced to the semifinals of ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam after Milos Raonic was forced to retire from the pair's quarter-final match due to a hip injury.
Sinner led the battle by 7-6(4), 1-1 when the former World No. 3 Raonic called a halt to proceedings at Rotterdam Ahoy. The Australian Open winner Sinner saved two set points at 4-5 and 15/40 before winning the first set in a tiebreaker.
"He is for sure one of the toughest opponents to play against. This is a very unusual challenge you have on court. He serves incredibly well. I was up a break first set and I missed a couple of things. From the past two rounds I was struggling a little bit to find myself on the court. Also today, I felt like he was playing better than me the first set," said Sinner as quoted by ATP.
"I just tried to stay somehow mentally, but at the end of the day this is not how you want to win this match. He had so many injuries throughout his career and hopefully he will have a speedy recovery," he added.
The 22-year-old Sinner, who is now 10-0 this season following his 200th tour-level win, will face home hope Tallon Griekspoor on Saturday night. It will be a rematch of the two players' 2023 semi-final encounter, which Sinner won in straight sets before losing in the championship match to Daniil Medvedev.
"It was really tough. I remember the last set was a tie-break, so these are the kinds of matches where you also have to enjoy the atmosphere. I'm sure it's going to be full, so that's also one of the reasons why I love to play here. The fans are incredible. Tomorrow is a new day, anything can happen, so I'm looking forward to it," recalled Sinner when asked about his triumph over Griekspoor from a year ago.
"I think the situation here is, the courts are quite heavy, but it changes a lot with new balls and used balls. So you have to change also, but this is the fun of the sport. Every week or every tournament you play in a different situation and I'm happy to be in the semi-final trying to play some good tennis tomorrow," said Sinner on his quest to find his best game this week in the Netherlands.
Sinner is the seventh Italian male to notch 200 tour-level wins in the Open Era.
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