Sinner Sets Tsitsipas Showdown In Rotterdam, Rune Also Advances

Jannik Sinner was tested on Wednesday at the ABN AMRO Open, but last week’s Montpellier champion battled on to set a second-round showdown with top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The Italian overcame a second-set hiccup to defeat Benjamin Bonzi 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 after two hours and four minutes in Rotterdam.

“For sure it’s tough when you come quite late to the other tournament, so I’m very happy about my performance today,” Sinner said. “It was not easy for me. We made a lot of unforced errors today. But still I tried to stay focussed [on] my game.”

Sinner saved two of the three break points he faced and won 46 per cent of his return points to improve to 9-2 on the season. He will next try to double his win total against Tsitsipas (1-5).

“I started off very well and I finished quite well, so I’m happy,” Sinner said. “Let’s see what’s going to happen in the next round.”

Also moving on was fourth seed Holger Rune, who ousted qualifier Constant Lestienne 6-4, 6-4. The Danish star broke the Frenchman’s serve four times to reach the second round.

“It was tricky. It’s a lot about finding the rhythm here in the beginning of the tournament and first match you have to really be on your toes, especially I played a qualifier today who already has two matches in his bag,” Rune said. “It made it more difficult, but I’m happy how I handled every situation today.”

Already through to the quarter-finals is former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka, who defeated another former Top 10 star Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-3.

The Swiss has long enjoyed success in the Netherlands, having won the tournament in 2015 and advanced to the final in 2019. Wawrinka will play the winner of Sinner and Tsitsipas in the last eight.