Sinner outlasts Rublev for Tsitsipas meeting
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BARCELONA • It was a clash of two of the most in-form players on the ATP Tour.
Coming into their Barcelona Open quarter-final meeting yesterday, Andrey Rublev had 26 wins this year - the most of any men's singles player in 2021 - while Jannik Sinner was on 17, and something had to give.
Ultimately, world No. 19 Sinner felt fatigue had played a part after beating Rublev, who before the tournament started admitted to feeling a bit burnt out, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6).
Both were playing their eighth tournament since the start of the year. The difference was that his seventh-ranked opponent had progressed to two finals - winning Rotterdam and losing Monte Carlo - while Sinner was a losing finalist in Miami.
The 19-year-old Italian, who is considered one of the up-and-coming talents on the tour, felt the extra matches Rublev had been involved in swung the contest in his favour.
Sinner, who has now made his first clay-court semi-final at tour level and his first ATP 500 semi-final on what is his first Barcelona appearance, said: "I'm trying to (get better). For me, it was the first time playing against (him).
"He played many many matches this year already, you know. Maybe he is a little bit tired after the week in Monte Carlo. I tried to play my tennis.
"Obviously you practise for these kinds of matches. Especially when you play important rounds like quarter-finals, semi-finals... It's important for me to get experience and I'm just trying to do that."
While 23-year-old Rublev will take a week off before back-to-back Masters 1000 events on clay in Madrid and Rome next month, Sinner will next face the second-most in-form player on the tour, Stefanos Tsitsipas, today.
The 22-year-old Greek made it 25 wins on the men's circuit this season after beating Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime 6-3, 6-3 yesterday.
World No. 5 Tsitsipas, who won his first Masters 1000 title in Monte Carlo last week, is shaping up to be one of the players to watch in the clay-court swing.
In Stuttgart, world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty had to dig deep against Karolina Pliskova before outlasting her Czech opponent 2-6, 6-1, 7-5 at the WTA Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
The Australian faces the winner of the match between Ukraine's Elina Svitolina and Czech Petra Kvitova in the semi-finals today.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
WTA STUTTGART OPEN
S-finals: StarHub Ch201, 9.30pm & tomorrow, 12.30am
