Jannik Sinner, birthday with victory: Atmane’s fairy tale over, Azure in Cincinnati final

Jannik Sinner on his birthday did not surprise himself and won qualification for the Cincinnati Masters 1000 final, overcoming in two sets (7-6, 6-2) outsider Terence Atmane, world number 136. The volcanic and unpredictable French tennis player, capable of eliminating elite athletes such as Rune and Fritz, gave the Azzurro a hard time especially in the first set, but then succumbed sharply in the second.

Before the start of the match Atmane surprised Sinner by giving him a Pokemon card: a gift that the Azure accepted with a smile. On the court, also aided by the heat, the San Candido champion instead suffered and not a little from the transalpine’s serve, which dragged him all the way to the tie-break. The world number one, impregnable in turn on serve, played the decisive points better in the tiebreaker, winning the first partial.

In the second the balance lasted until the fourth game, when Sinner got the break for the first time: from there the match went downhill for the Blue, who managed his strength by holding serve and then closing with a final break in the eighth game.

Sinner now goes in the hunt for his fifth career Masters 1000 tournament: in the final, his 28th ever, he will face the winner of the match between Carlos Alcaraz to Alexander Zverev.