Jannik Sinner is no stranger to big wins, but at the 2023 Rotterdam Open, he recorded the biggest one of his career so far.
In the past, the young Italian defeated player ranked 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and also the 10th highest-ranked player on the ATP Tour. In Rotterdam, Sinner took it another step further, when he defeated world no. 3, Stefanos Tsitsipas to book a quarterfinal spot at the ATP 500 event played there.
The Italian came to Rotterdam after his first triumph of the 2023 season, which came in Montpellier. In the first round of the Rotterdam Open, he defeated Benjamin Bonzi but a much bigger challenge awaited him in the second round.
Tsitsipas came to the tournament after the Australian Open final loss, but he wanted to turn his luck at the ATP 500 events around, as he's on a nine-match losing streak in the finals of such events.
Both players were quite comfortable on their serve in the first set and the level of tennis was quite high. While the Greek hit 4 winners and made only three unforced errors, his opponent was able to produce 14 winners, and that was a key to the crucial break in the ninth game.
That made Sinner lead for the first time in the match, and after confirming the break in the next game, he won the first set 6-4.
The Italian was a better player also in the second set. He started with a break and after Tsitsipas couldn't respond to that, he added one more to win the match 6-4, 6-3 and set up a quarterfinal clash with three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka.
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