Jannik Sinner never stops, he never ceases to enchant, to amaze with his victories. And also for the way he gets them. In the semifinal he again beat world number 12 Roberto Bautista Agut in three sets (5-7 6-4 6-4) earning – at 19 years and 7 months – his first Masters 1000 final, just on his third attempt in a tournament in this category, the second most prestigious after the Slams. It is the second semi-final of a blue in a Masters 1000 (since they exist) after the one won by Fabio Fognini in Monte Carlo in 2019: coincidentally on that occasion also on Easter day. And from Monday Jannik will be, at least, number 21 in the world: ten positions climbed in just one week. An individual success that is part of a great moment of all Italian tennis, given that thanks to Gianluca Mager’s semifinal in Marbella there will be 10 blues in the top 100.
In Dubai Sinner had won 7-5 after 2 hours and 50 minutes, today he needed 2 and 30, and as usual it was in the highlights that we saw the great quality of Sinner, the ability to read the instant and level up. After a first set that started a bit nervously on a very windy day, and lost also due to the many law errors (17 out of 26 total) Sinner could have plunged into the second, when at 3-3 he found himself under 0-40 but he managed to save himself and put Bautista under pressure by hunting him in the tenth game. Also in the third set there were breaks and counter breaks, then a final rush point to point closed by the usual masterpiece of Sinner who at 5-4 earned three matchpoints by attacking Agut from the backhand and forcing him to surrender.
Tonight we will meet Jannik’s opponent: in the second semifinal the Polish Hubert Hurkacz, number 38 Atp, and the Russian Andrei Rublev, number 8 will meet.