And we are five. Tomorrow in the AP 250 in Antwerp will be the fifth final of the year for Jannik Sinner, who has already won three of the first four (Melbourne 250, Washington and Sofia) and lost to Huber Hurkacz that of the Masters 1000 in Miami, while the last year he had seized his first ATP center in Sofia.
The big match in Antwerp was earned by demolishing world number 32 Lloyd Harris in the semifinals, 6-2 6-2 in 87 minutes, a sentence. It was expected – it was feared – some more resistance from the South African, who is experiencing an excellent season, but Jan did not let him escape, playing an almost perfect match, dominating the exchanges from the bottom and keeping faith in his role as a number. 13 in the world and number 1 seeded in the tournament. “Here in Antwerp I feel good (two years ago he had already reached the semifinals, ed), the conditions are similar to Sofia, and I really like playing indoors, I hope to play another great match in the final”. Tomorrow, however, the level will rise: waiting for him is ‘El Peque’, aka Diego Schwartzman, former top 10, currently just one place behind Sinner in the ATP ranking and like him fighting to catch one of the last two places available for the Turin ATP Finals. The final is at 4.30 pm with live coverage on SuperTennis.
Schwartzman easily beat the young American Brooksby (6-4 6-0), and is currently 16th in the Race, the ranking that establishes the true hierarchy for the Finals, with 1855 points, while Sinner is 11th (but virtual 10th since Nadal will not be in Turin) with 2745. From number 9, Hurkacz – who at the moment, when there are still tournaments in Vienna, Paris Bercy and possibly Stockholm, is the eighth and last qualified – 210 points separate him, which would be reduced to 110 in case of victory in Antwerp. There is no precedent between Sinner and the Argentine Schwartzman. «The road is still long – says Jan – There are still three tournaments, I have to play well in Vienna and Paris but there are great players in the running like me who want to get to Turin. I hope to do it this year, but I am already satisfied with my season ». Impossible to blame him.