World number one Jannik Sinner powered into the semifinals at the Cincinnati Open with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Felix Auger-Aliassime in just 71 minutes, achieving his 30th triumph of the season.
āToday, I felt great on court,ā Sinner remarked courtside. āEvery day is going to be different. Tomorrow is a day off, which is good for me. We will try and put some reps in and then see what I can do in the semis.ā
On a 25-match winning streak on the hard courts, the title defender imposed his trademark aggressive baseline play to dominate from the start of the contest; he dropped just two points behind his serve throughout the first set, which he took 6-0 in just 27 minutes.
Meanwhile, the Canadian player, who hit the court aiming to reach his fourth ATP Masters 1000 semifinal, got off to a poor start after dropping serve early in the second game.
As the opener wore on, Auger-Aliassime conceded two more breaks in the fourth and sixth games, committing five double faults in the process.
In the second set, the 25-year-old kicked up a level and, following a battle at deuce, he broke serve for the first time in the match and held, taking a 2-0 advantage at the Lindner Family Tennis Center.
The lead, however, was short-lived as Sinner stepped up the pressure, setting level with a break in the fourth game and holding to inch ahead 3-2.
From there, the world No. 28 lost rhythm on serve, back to an erratic display that led to two double faults and a double break in the sixth game.
Hitting the ball cleanly off both wings, the No.1 Italian backed it up, moving one game closer to notching the win at 5-2.
Serving to stay in the match, the former world No. 6 dropped serve in the eighth game after hitting his third double fault in the set, with Sinner wrapping up 6-2.
The San Candido native finished with seven winners, against 12 unforced errors, winning 78 percent of the points on his first serve, and converted six of 10 break points.
Also, his performance on the return made a huge difference, registering a return rate of 278 compared to the Montreal-born 174, 52 percent on his first delivery and 80 on his second service.
Assessing his performance, he said, āI felt that I was returning very well today. I think that was the key point, which gave me the confidence to serve well. I had a small drop in the second set when he broke me. It could have been a small change, but I am happy I broke him back quite early.ā
Moreover, the Italian player became the fifth male player to grab 25 consecutive wins on hard courts this century.
Next, the 23-year-old will face off against either seventh seed Holger Rune or qualifier Terence Atmane.
The Frenchman, ranked world No. 136, is enjoying a dream week in Cincinnati as he reached the quarterfinals from qualifying, recording the first Top-5 win of his career over world No. 4 Taylor Fritz, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, on Wednesday.
Furthermore, on his way to a first Masters 1000 quarterfinal, he moved past Yoshihito Nishioka, 15th seed Flavio Cobolli, Brazilian Joao Fonseca, and eventually defeated the No. 1 American player.
Sinner made it through a challenging, rain-interrupted match against experienced Frenchman Adrian Mannarino to progress into his 16th Masters 1000 quarterfinal against the Canadian.