Last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals champion Jannik Sinner edged past 2017 finalist David Goffin 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 to reach the quarter finals at the AMRO ABN World Tennis Championships in Rotterdam. The 18-year-old Italian player clinched the first win of his career against a top 10 player.
Sinner hit five aces, won 72% of his first serve points and saved six of the eight break points he faced. Goffin made seven double faults.
Both players traded breaks in the first two games. Goffin converted his fifth break point chance. Sinner broke straight back to draw level to 1-1. Sinner fended off two break point chances in the seventh game. Goffin saved two break points in the eighth game. Sinner earned a mini-break to take a 6-3 lead in the tie-break. Sinner saved three set points to draw level to 6-6. Goffin saved another set point, but Sinner sealed the tie-break 9-7 on his fifth set point with a winner.
Goffin earned an early break to open up a 2-0 lead. Sinner broke straight back in the third game. Both players went on serve until the 11th game, when Sinner got the crucial break after Goffin made his second double fault on the break point. Sinner served out the second set with a hold at love.
“I feel great, especially now in this moment. It was not easy playing against him. He is very solid, so you sometimes go for a winner, or change the rhythm. It feels like a normal victory, but sometimes you play matches better than others. It’s all about improving and testing where you were as a player”, said Sinner.
This year’s Doha and Adelaide Andrey Rublev beat Alexander Bublik 7-5 6-3 scoring his 13th win in 14 matches in 2020. Rublev sets up a quarter final clash against either Vasek Pospisil or Filip Krajinovic. Pospisil upset Danil Medvedev. Rublev won five consecutive games from 4-5 in the opening set to open up a 2-0 lead with two breaks in the 11th game of the first set and in the first game of the second set. The second set went on serve until the 12th game, when Rublev sealed the win with his third break of the match.
Slovenia’s Aljaz Bedene stunned 2019 ATP Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-5 6-3 in 1 hour and 33 minutes. Bedene will take on Felix Auger Aliassime for the first time in his career.
Bedene fended off five break points in the opening set (two in the second game and three in the eighth game at 3-4). Bedene broke serve at love in the 11th game, when Tsitsipas hit a forehand wide. Bedene hit a service winner at 1-1 in the second set, when Tsitsipas hit his crosscourt forehand into the net.
Bedene held his next service games and closed out the match with a forehand down the line. Tsitsipas has a win-loss record of 3-4 in the seven matches he played this year.
