Sinner sweeps into Roland Garros SFs

Jannik Sinner extended his perfect record at majors in 2024 on Tuesday at Roland Garros, where he moved past Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-4, 7-6(3) to reach the semi-finals in Paris for the first time.

The Italian, who captured his maiden major title at the Australian Open in January, looked in control throughout his two-hour, 30-minute win against first-time Roland Garros quarter-finalist 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. Sinner struck 29 winners and broke Dimitrov’s serve four times according to Infosys Stats to improve to 4-1 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

"I am very happy. We have played a couple of times before and know what to expect," Sinner said. "We played a final in Miami and it is always tough to play against him. He is such a great talent and nice guy. My performance was very solid, especially the first two sets. I had a little bit of pressure when serving for the match, but this is normal, this is tennis. I am happy with how I played later and to be in the semis."

Sinner holds a 12-0 record at majors this year. The 13-time tour-level titlist will next play Carlos Alcaraz or Stefanos Tsitsipas in his first Roland Garros semi-final. Sinner is level at 4-4 with Alcaraz in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, while he trails Tsitsipas 3-6.

Sinner is guaranteed to rise to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings on Monday after Novak Djokovic withdrew from Roland Garros on Tuesday ahead of his quarter-final 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 top spot and the first from his country.

"What can I say. First of all it is every player's dream to become No. 1 in the world," Sinner said. "In the other way, seeing Novak retiring here I think is disappointing. I wish him a speedy recovery."

Sinner arrived at Roland Garros having missed Rome due to a hip injury. The 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF titlist 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.

Did You Know?
Sinner is just the fourth Italian man to reach the semi-finals at Roland Garros. Adriano Panatta, Corrado Barazzutti and Marco Cecchinato achieved the feat.