First top 3 win! Sinner exacts revenge upon Tsitsipas in Rotterdam

Italian Jannik Sinner defeated Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, the top seed, 6-4, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals of the Rotterdam Open at the Rotterdam Ahoy on Thursday evening.

The Italian banks his biggest career win by ranking against the world No 3, and exacts a bit of revenge for a hard-fought loss at the hands of Tsitsipas in the round of 16 at the Australian Open last month. Tsitsipas entered Thursday’s contest with a 5-1 record against the 21-year-old Italian.

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But Sinner was able to change the tone of the head-to-head with a steady, focused effort that increased his current winning streak to five victories. Last week’s Montpellier champ never faced a break point and dropped just seven points on serve across the one hour and 21-minute contest.

“It means a lot,” Sinner said on court after his win. “[We put] a lot of work behind [this victory]. I played some good tennis, very focused today.  Hopefully I can keep it going.”

Sinner: “A very important win”

“For sure Stefanos is an incredible player,” added Sinner. “I have a lot of respect for him and he played some incredible tennis this year already. So I was looking forward to this match to be honest, yesterday already, after after my win.

“Head-to-head, I am still far back from him, so for me this is a very important win. I lost a tough one in Australia where I felt like I was playing great.”

Sinner, ranked No 14, will play Swiss Stan Wawrinka next.

“I’m very happy that he is playing again at a very high level,” Sinner said of Wawrinka. “I played last year at Wimbledon against him, and he has improved a lot from that point. I know him quite well. He’s a hard worker so it’s gonna be a tough match – for sure different than today.”

In the previous round of the Rotterdam tournament, the 21-year-old Italian won against Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi (6-2, 3-6, 6-1).

Tsitsipas, ranked No 3, won against Finn Emil Ruusuvuori (7-5, 6-1) in the previous round of the Rotterdam tournament.

Rotterdam ATP250, other second-round results (Rotterdam Ahoy, hard, EUR 2.074.505, most recent results first):

• Holger Rune vs. Gijs Brouwer
• Alex De Minaur beat Maxime Cressy: 7-5, 3-6, 6-3
• Daniil Medvedev (6) beat Botic van de Zandschulp: 6-2, 6-2
• Felix Auger-Aliassime (3) beat Gregoire Barrere (Q): 6-4, 6-3
• Tallon Griekspoor (WC) beat Alexander Zverev (8): 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
• Grigor Dimitrov beat Hubert Hurkacz (5): 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5)
• Stan Wawrinka beat Richard Gasquet: 6-3, 6-3