Jannik Sinner advanced to the Indian Wells semifinals. © APA / JULIAN FINNEY
Jannik Sinner went one better at the Masters tournament in Indian Wells. The sextner knocked out local hero Taylor Fritz on Friday night (CET) and thus made it into the semi-finals.
March 17, 2023
From: dl
Sinner was the first tennis player from Italy to reach the quarterfinals in Indian Wells. But that’s not the end of it. In the desert, the sextner defeated last year’s winner, Taylor Fritz, in three sets 6:4, 4:6 and 6:4. In the round of the last four, Sinner now meets the winner of the game between Carlos Alcaraz and Felix Auger-Alliasime on Saturday, which takes place immediately afterwards. The other semi-final is contested by Daniil Medvedev and Frances Tiafoe.
Especially the first round between Sinner and Fritz was top-class. When the sun was still shining in Indian Wells, the spectators in the Tennis Garden got to see the best rallies. Sinner took the first service game from Fritz and therefore won the first set 6:4. In the second half, however, the first US top 5 player since Andy Roddick (2009) was able to react. Especially on the second serve, Fritz was better than Sinner in this phase. The South Tyrolean had to give up his service twice and thus give up the second set.
Taylor Fritz had to admit defeat. © APA / afp / FREDERIC J. BROWN
In the decisive sentence, Sinner then hit back. The 21-year-old took the first service game from Fritz. Even the re-break of the 25-year-old from San Diego did not faze the number 13 in the world – even if he subsequently missed many break chances. Including a 40-0 lead when the score was 1-1. But Fritz was not able to use this momentum for himself. In the third set, Sinner was simply the better player and took the serve from his opponent to take a 5-4 lead. While the sun was gradually setting in California on Thursday evening (local time), Sinner successfully served to win the match after 2:19 hours.