Acrobatic Sinner rolls into Halle quarters

Jannik Sinner began his third set with a barrel-rolling dive to catch a drop shots and scrambled for another two shots to keep his run into the Halle quarter-finals alive on Thursday.

The world No. 1 managed to catch Fabian Marozsan with a break of serve on the way to a 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-3 win in what proved to be a roller-coaster of a second-round match.

The Italian had further troubles with the Hungarian, dropping serve to love as he tried to serve out the match; Sinner completed the job two games later on a second match point.

 Victory marked the second year in a row that the 22-year-old had reached a last-eight place at the German event.

Sinner finished with 37 winners and 30 unforced errors after two and a quarter hours as he won his second consecutive three-set match here.

“He;s an amazing player, so I knew I had to play really, really well,” Sinner said.

“It was a real roller-coaster.

“I was up in the first set, then lost the break and had to break again. In the second set I missed my chances.

“In the third I played more aggressive. I’m happy to be in the quarters, so let’s see what is coming.”

Sinner has been tested in both of his first matches on grass this week. “The first ones are never easy, this grass is different than Wimbledon,” he said.

“No match is easy – even if you win in straight sets.”

 Sinner will play his fifth ATP grass quarter-final on Friday.