Sinner Stops Simon Streak For Cologne Semi-final Spot
Jannik Sinner recovered after losing eight straight games to work his way past former World No. 6 Gilles Simon on Friday afternoon at the bett1HULKS Championship.
The Italian wild card fought back from 0-2 down in the deciding set to win 6-3, 0-6, 6-4 over two hours and 33 minutes. He will next play top-seeded German Alexander Zverev or Adrian Mannarino of France in the Cologne semi-finals.
“He didn’t give me any angles and played down the middle. He was very solid and I tried to play more on his forehand,” said Sinner, in an on-court interview. “Losing eight games [in a row] can happen, but next time I need to find a solution earlier. He played far better than me in the second set. I got a little emotional in the third set, but I wanted to show that I wanted to win.”
Sinner regained the momentum by pushing Simon deep behind the baseline in the third game of the third set and decisively broke at 3-3. The 19-year-old saved three break points when serving for his 13th match win of 2020 and closed out with a crosscourt backhand volley.
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