Sinner sinks Griekspoor, sets De Minaur title match in Rotterdam

Jannik Sinner hit his stride and barely looked back on Saturday night at the ABN AMRO Open.

The top seed downed home hope Tallon Griekspoor 6-2, 6-4 to reach his second straight final at the ATP 500 in Rotterdam. Sinner took control early of his clash with Griekspoor, a rematch of the pair’s last-four meeting at the same venue a year ago, and ultimately wrapped an 82-minute victory with some of his best tennis of the week so far under the roof at Rotterdam Ahoy.

“Today, in a practice session beforehand, we tried to keep the intensity quite high, trying to feel the court and get into the rhythm a little bit,” said Sinner in his post-match interview. “I knew that today I had to raise the level, which I have done, and obviously I’m glad that I can play once more here in the final in Rotterdam.”

Sinner will take a 14-match winning steak into his 16th tour-level final, where his opponent will be fifth seed Alex de Minaur. The 22-year-old, who lifted his maiden Grand Slam trophy at the Australian Open last month, has not lost since his defeat to Novak Djokovic in the championship match at the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals.

He is EVERYWHERE 💨@janniksin didn't come to play 😤@abnamroopen | #abnamroopen pic.twitter.com/3V3OsSFY1W

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Sinner had expressed a desire to raise his level after his quarter-final against Milos Raonic and the Italian wasted little time fulfilling that objective against Griekspoor. He broke serve in the opening game of the match and was soon a double break up at 5-1 as he struck the ball cleanly off both wings, offering a seemingly nervous Griekspoor little chance to find his feet in front of his home fans.

A year ago in Rotterdam, Griekspoor took 11 games off Sinner in a steely semi-final showing despite ultimately falling to a straight-sets defeat. This time around, the Dutch World No. 29 began to give a reminder of his ability in the second set, when he competed well and began to take the match to his opponent by firing plenty of big forehands to dictate rallies.

Griekspoor carved out two break points in both the fourth and sixth games of the second set, but some typically precise Sinner serving ensured he could not convert any of them. His comeback efforts were then badly undermined by a poor service game at 4-4 that handed a break to his opponent.

Sinner made no mistake in serving out from there to close a victory in which he saved all six break points he faced and won 79 per cent (23/29) of points behind first serves, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Most tour-level wins in 2024 season

“It’s just extra focus on important points, but obviously it is better not to get into the position to have to save the break points,” said Sinner when asked about how he had reacted under pressure against Griekspoor. “Today I served really well. I think I made first serves on all the break points, so it’s also part of the confidence. In another way, I felt much better on the court today and I think that helped me today.”

De Minaur, who earlier eased past Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-3, has not won in six Lexus ATP Head2Head clashes with Sinner. Should the top seed extend that lead to 7-0 and lift the trophy, he will on Monday rise to a career-high No. 3 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. That would be a record mark for an Italian man.

“It would mean a lot [to win the title],” said Sinner, who first competed in Rotterdam as an 18-year-old wild card in 2020. “It’s a special place, as I’ve said many times. The tournament believed in me years ago, and this is my second final. Last year I lost in three sets, so every final is different.

“Let’s see what’s coming. I know [De Minaur] quite well, he knows me well, and I guess he’s going to change a couple of things. So tomorrow I have to be really prepared and ready and we will see what I am capable of.”