“My Tactic Was to Stay in One Corner” – Jannik Sinner Reveals How he Defeated Alex De Minaur in Sofia

Rising Italian tennis star Jannik Sinner pulled off an upset win over Alex De Minaur at the ongoing Sofia Open on Friday.

It was his second win over the 25th-ranked Aussie after the victory at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan last year.

Balance on court the key for Jannik Sinner

Sharing his thoughts on the game during a courtside chat, Sinner said, “The key (in critical moments in a match) is the balance on court, trying to understand how big I should go.”

“The important points, when you serve, try to serve with the first serve in and maybe then it is a little bit easier to win the point,” Sinner said.

Currently at 44th in the ATP players’ rankings, Sinner said his ploy was to outpace his higher-ranked opponent.

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“I was just focussing on that and trying to let him play in one corner, because he moves very fast.

My tactic was to stay in one corner and try and play a little bit faster than him,” Sinner said.

How Sinner beat De Minaur at his own game

Fighting back from a set down, the 19-year-old Sinner beat the Aussie 6-7 (3-7), 6-4- 6-1.

In an entertaining last-eight tie that stretched beyond two hours, Sinner saved six of the seven break points against his serve.

The Italian also won 80% of his points on first serve, walking his talk on court balance and laying a marker down for his opponent.

It would be Sinner’s second semi-final appearance this year after his run to the last-four at Bett 1 HULKS Championship.

Sinner holds a win-loss ratio of 17-11 this year

The Italian holds an impressive win-loss ratio of 17-11 this year.

After dropping the closely-contested opening set, Sinner dominated proceedings in the next two.

Though he saved break points against his serve in the second set, he was never really in danger of losing it. The final set was all Sinner as he outpaced De Minaur and bossed him quite literally to close out the game.

He will meet fifth-seeded Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in the semi-final.