Jannik Sinner ended Rafael Jodar’s inspired Madrid Open run with a straight-sets win, reaching his first semi-final at the event. The world number one praised the teenager’s rise while extending his 21-match winning streak.
Jannik Sinner ended the inspired run of teen home favourite Rafael Jodar with a 6-2, 7-6 (7/0) victory at the Madrid Open on Wednesday to complete his set of semi-finals reached at all nine Masters 1000 tournaments.
The 19-year-old Jodar has taken the tour by storm this clay season, winning a maiden ATP title in Marrakesh, and making the semi-finals in Barcelona and the quarter-finals in Madrid before he was stopped by the world number one at the Caja Magica.
This time last year, Jodar was playing college tennis for the University of Virginia and was ranked 687 in the world. He will crack the top 35 when the new rankings are released on Monday.
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Sinner was seriously tested before he extended his current winning streak to 21 consecutive matches.
"He pushed me to the limit," said Sinner, who later warned about putting too much pressure on Jodar.
"At the end of the day, the player has to make the step forward, and then we see. But what he's doing, it's incredible. I wish him only the best.
"But in the same time, don't push him too much. Because sometimes it's getting into your head and it's very tough to get out.
"He's a very, very good kid, he has a great family behind him. The father seems very, very humble. He has a small bubble, which is great for him. I think he's going to make some incredible results in the future."
The world number one will next face recent Barcelona champion Arthur Fils in Friday's semi-final after the Frenchman skipped past Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 6-4 to improve to 9-0 on clay this season.
The first-set scoreline may have read 6-2 but it was far from a routine affair for Sinner, who found himself facing a young opponent who could match his firepower, particularly on the forehand wing.
The Italian was tested in multiple service games, including a marathon one at 2-2, and had to save a pair of break points before he took a one-set lead in 44 minutes.
Leaning on the rowdy home support that included several Real Madrid stars, past and present, Jodar skirted danger at the start of the second set and put pressure on the Sinner serve.
But despite his best efforts, Jodar couldn't convert any of the five break points he created as Sinner forced a tiebreak, and won the last 11 points of the match to advance to his first Madrid semi-final.
- Kostyuk on a roll -
In WTA action, Marta Kostyuk posted her 10th consecutive victory, on the back of her title run in Rouen, 7-6, 6-0 (7/1) over 13th seed Linda Noskova to punch her ticket to a semi-final meeting with lucky loser Anastasia Potapova.
The Ukrainian 26th seed created 23 break point opportunities on Noskova's serve, and broke the Czech seven times en route to her second 1000-level semi-final and first in Madrid.
Potapova reached the first WTA 1000 semi-final of her career with a hard-fought 6-1, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3 performance against former world number one Karolina Pliskova.
The world number 56 knocked out Grand Slam champions Elena Rybakina and Jelena Ostapenko in the previous two rounds and is making the most of her lucky loser opportunity, which gave her a spot in the main draw after she lost in the second round of qualifying eight days ago to Sinja Kraus.
Having recently switched allegiance from Russia to Austria, Potapova is the first player representing Austria to reach a WTA 1000 semi-final, and the first lucky loser to make it this far at a tournament of this level.
Kostyuk, along with her compatriots, does not shake hands with Russian and Belarusian players ever since the war in Ukraine started four years ago.
Asked if Potapova changing her nationality to Austrian will change her stance when they square off on Thursday, Kostyuk said: "The only person that I shake hands with is Daria Kasatkina, because she didn't just change her passport, she also openly said that she doesn't support the war and all of that stuff.
"So this is why me and like other girls made the decision to shake hands with her, purely out of respect.
“In this case, I mean, there have been multiple players who have changed their nationality, but none of them ever voiced anything against war or anything to support Ukrainians. So for me that doesn't change.”
© Agence France-Presse (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
