New York (EFE).- Italian Jannik Sinner defeated his compatriot Lorenzo Musetti 6-1, 6-4 and 6-2 this Wednesday, and was on the verge of advancing to a new US Open final that seems inevitable for the world number 1.
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Sinner, who defends the title in New York, spent two hours on the clock to get rid of Musetti in the quarterfinals. On Friday he will play his fifth consecutive 'Grand Slam' semifinal; in the previous four, Sinner reached the final.
The Italian will face Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime, number 27 in the world, in that semifinal. The other match will be between Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz and Serbian Novak Djokovic.
Musetti, Sinner's teammate in the Davis Cup, assured before stepping onto the court that tonight he wanted to "surprise everyone." He didn't succeed.
An Unbreakable Serve
Sinner went through the first set like a hurricane. He went up 5-0 with two 'breaks' and took the set on serve 6-1. Musetti only made 44% of first serves, won five points on first serve and two on second, numbers impossible to worry Sinner.
After the nerves, Musetti stepped up in the second set, with more confidence in his game. But Sinner responded with an impenetrable serve, with 95% of first serve points.
With 4-4 on the rest and 15-15, the transalpine player hit a cross-court backhand while coming to the net, making it clear that the set was going to be his. Two points later, Musetti gave up the game with a double fault. On serve, Sinner took the second set 6-4.
After opening the third set with a break against Musetti, Sinner faced the toughest game of the match: four break points against him, saved one after another until he held serve. The stadium emptied after that game.
Musetti defended two of his games, but Sinner, with another 'break', closed the set 6-2.
Sinner ended up saving the 7 'break' points he faced throughout the match. In addition, he converted 5 of the 6 he had in his favor. Furthermore, he finished with a 91% first serve points.
"It was a great performance, very solid, especially with how I started the match," said Sinner in on-court interviews after sealing his victory.
The Italian spoke about how the semi-final picture looks, which includes Alcaraz, Djokovic and Auger-Aliassime: "Every player who reaches a 'Grand Slam' semi-final is because they are playing incredible tennis."
Sinner's victory this Wednesday was his 26th consecutive win on 'Grand Slam' hard courts, after having won the last two editions of the Australian Open and the last one in New York.