Sinner slips but wins in Beijing

Jannik Sinner stayed in touch as the race to year-end world No. 1 tightens, with ATP No. 2 overcoming an awkward but minor fall on court on his way to a 6-1, 7-5 quarter-final defeat of Fabian Marozsan on Monday at the China Open.

Sinner and No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz – headlining this week in Tokyo, are duelling for top honours as the season enters the concluding six weeks of play.

Spain’s Alcaraz seized the top ranking back form Sinner after defeating the Italian in the US Open final Sinner controlled his Hungarian opponent as he won the opening set in less than 30 minutes and briefly lost his footing in the second game.
The top seed came from a break down in the second set to claim his place in the final four in Beijing.

“I started off very well in the first set. We both played well in the second set. I had some break chances at 4-3, I couldn’t use them,” Sinner said.

“He’s someone whose peak is high, which I knew before the match. When he was serving for the set he made a couple unforced errors which helped me to come back and win in two.”

Sinner characterised the match as “psychological of course. I tried to fight. “I had some tough service games, (I made) holds at 0-30 a couple times. Happy with how I fought today.”

The Italian now takes on Australian third seed Alex de Minaur, who advanced when Czech Jakub Mensik quit their match with a leg problem.dwn 4-1 in the opening set.