The Russian high-flyer drives Sinner to despair

Sinner (ATP 32) had to admit defeat to number 42 after two and a half hours with 7:6 (5), 3:6, 2:6. After his fantastic performance on Wednesday against the world number 11. Roberto Bautista Agut The South Tyrolean also did well against Karatsev at the beginning, but then the Russian showed why he is currently one of the strongest players in the world and ultimately deservedly prevailed.

Karatsev's career is a curious one: at the beginning of February, the tennis professional was still number 114 in the world and had never made it into the top 100 of the ATP rankings to date. But then the 27-year-old suddenly broke the knot in Melbourne: At the Australian Open, Karatsev rushed into the semi-finals of the Grand Slam tournament as a qualifier, where he only fell to serial winner and industry leader Novak Djokovic. Since then, the right-hander has been in great form and is in 42nd place in the world rankings. Sinner strong at the beginning Nevertheless, Sinner started extremely strong and repeatedly caused trouble for the Russian, especially with his powerful serves. The Sexten player promptly took advantage of a break chance and moved ahead to 4:1. But then Karatsev got better and better into the game and got his lost service back in the spectacular seventh game: Although Sinner fended off two break opportunities, he had to give up the point to his opponent on the third chance. A remarkable exchange of blows developed between the two tennis professionals, which was ultimately decided in a tiebreak. And here the South Tyrolean had the longest breath after playing for over an hour.

Aslan Karatsev is in outstanding form. © Social Media / ATP Dubai

In the second set the tide slowly began to turn. After Sinner fended off four break chances in the second game, Karatsev converted the fifth to make it 2-0 and then easily wrapped up the set. It was increasingly noticeable to the 19-year-old Sinner that his win against Bautista Agut had left its mark. Fatigue and brilliant Karatsev ensure Sinner's knockout In the third set, the South Tyrolean really reared his game again, promptly regained a lost service game with a re-break (1:1) and had two break opportunities on his racket when the score was 2:1. But Karatsev defended, equalized to 2-2 and then pulled away. The high-flyer from Moscow played great tennis, let Sinner run, always placed the balls precisely on the line and drove the shooting star to despair. In the third sentence, Sinner turned to his box and shrugged his shoulders - with the message: "What should I do?" Double out, now to Miami Ultimately, after two and a half hours, Karatsev converted his match point to make it 6-2 and move into the semi-finals, where he will meet his compatriot Andrey Rublev. Sinner, on the other hand, played the double quarter-finals in Dubai with Hubert Hurkacz from Poland, but had to admit defeat to the duo Ivan Dodig (CRO)/Filip Polasek (SVK) 6:3, 6:7(4), 2:10 .

Next week Sinner will be in action at the Masters 1000 tournament in Miami. Thanks to his quarter-finals in the Persian Gulf, the Puster native has not only gained a lot of self-confidence, but with the 90 points he gained, he could also move into the top 30 in the world rankings.

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The Russian high-flyer drives Sinner to despair

Jannik Sinner's adventure on the Persian Gulf is over: On Thursday, the 19-year-old from Sexten was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the ATP 500 tournament in Dubai against the Russian high-flyer Aslan Karatsev.

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