Paris: Jannik Sinner on Tuesday swept past 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov into the semifinals of the French Open and within minutes was told that he would be the next World No.1 in men’s singles following Novak Djokovic’s withdrawal with an injury. Sinner, who needed to reach the final to replace the Serbian defending champion from the top spot, managed that after winning the quarterfinal against Dimitrov 6-2, 6-4, 7-6(3).
Djokovic withdrew ahead of his quarterfinal clash with Casper Ruud due to a right knee injury. Djokovic had to reach the final to have a chance of remaining at No. 1. The Italian will be the 29th player to climb to the top spot and the first from his country.
Sinner, who will become the first Italian player to become men’s World No.1, is into his first semifinal on Paris clay and will face either Carlos Alcaraz or Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The Italian, who captured his maiden major title at the Australian Open in January this year, looked in control throughout his two-hour, 30-minute win against first-time Roland Garros quarterfinalist Dimitrov.
The 22-year-old hit cleanly, moved freely and played with high intensity, responding after failing to serve out the match at 5-4 to seal victory in the third-set tie-break. According to Infosys Stats, sinner struck 29 winners and broke Dimitrov’s serve four times to improve to 4-1 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.
Sinner holds a 12-0 record at Grand Slams this year. The 13-time tour-level titlist will next play Carlos Alcaraz or Stefanos Tsitsipas in his first Roland Garros semifinal. Sinner is level at 4-4 with Alcaraz in their ATP head-to-head series, while he trails Tsitsipas 3-6.
Sinner arrived at Roland Garros having missed Rome due to a hip injury. The 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals has hardly put a foot wrong thus far in Paris, looking comfortable to drop just one set.
Dimitrov, who has advanced to the last eight at all four majors, was unable to find the level he produced during his fourth-round win against Hubert Hurkacz. The 33-year-old Bulgarian was rushed at times on Court Philippe-Chatrier, with Sinner forcing the 10th seed into errors with his depth and weight of shot. Sinner is now 33-2 on the year.
–IANS
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