Jannik Sinner swept away Andrey Rublev in straight sets 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the early hours of Wednesday morning to reach his first Australian Open semi-final,
The 22-year-old Italian 4th seed and former downhill skier reached his second Grand Slam semi-final having made the last four at Wimbledon last year.
Sinner is only the second Italian man to reach the semis in Melbourne since Matteo Berrettini in 2022.
For 26 year old Rublev, this defeat will be hard to take as he has now failed to win a Grand Slam quarter-final in 10 attempts.
The first set started promisingly for the Russian, having some early break point opportunities, none of which he converted.
A single break handed Sinner the first set but the turning point came when he forced his way back from 5-1 down in the second set tie-break winning six points in a row to take a two set lead,
“It’s obviously very tough to play against him,” said Sinner. “We’ve had tough matches in the past.
“Today was three sets but I could have lost both (the first two). First set, he had so many break points and I somehow served really well. I just tried to move him around.
“I’m just trying to stay aggressive. It went my way today so really happy.”
Taking on 10-time champion Djokovic in the semi-final will be a daunting task for Sinner but he will draw confidence from beating the Serbian in the Davis Cup last November
Main photo:- Jannik Sinner on his way to semi-final spot
