Semi-final and number 1: Sinner makes himself immortal

This day will go down in local sports history because Jannik Sinner is the new number 1 in the world! And he can still dream of his second Grand Slam triumph at the French Open in Paris. On Tuesday, the man from Sexten defeated Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals and almost at the same time benefited from Novak Djokovic's retirement due to injury.

June 04, 2024

From: leo

Historic, incredible, groundbreaking: No matter how you want to describe this memorable afternoon in Paris on June 4, 2024, it will never disappear from the minds of many local sports fans. It was apparent and yet you have to let it melt in your mouth: Jannik Sinner is the new number 1! The reason for this is this Novak Djokovic withdraws before the quarterfinals against Casper Ruud. The fact that Sinner reached his third Grand Slam semi-final on Tuesday almost faded into the background in view of this report. The Sexton player beat Grigor Dimitrov 6:2, 6:4 and 7:6.

The Philippe-Chatrier, which was filled to bursting, saw a beginning in which Sinner was much more concentrated than in the round of 22 against Corentin Moutet. The XNUMX-year-old massaged the Bulgarian's backhand, who either lost length in his shots or made a direct error. Because the big favorite also returned extremely strongly, the starting phase was a clear affair. He subsequently defended the two breaks that Sinner grabbed early on without any problems.

Dimitrov is getting better

The fans saw the same pattern in the second section. While Sinner performed with an uncanny confidence, the Bulgarian appeared inhibited - both in his movements and in his punches. And so the 33-year-old received the next break in the first service game. From Sinner's perspective, everything seemed to go smoothly.

But when the score was 3:2, doubts suddenly arose. After a Dimitrov stop, the man from Sexten simply stood there, and shortly afterwards he grabbed his back. However, the Sinner supporters were quickly reassured because in the next service game the South Tyrolean served again at his usual speed. Without allowing a single break chance, Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi's protégé closed the bag in the second set.

The second in the world rankings missed his chance of making the preliminary decision in the first return game of the third set when he missed a break ball. After more than an hour and a half, Sinner had to fend off the first break opportunity. He achieved this thanks to a powerful forehand. From then on, a match developed at eye level, which was determined by the servers. When the score was 4:4, Dimitrov suddenly made three mistakes with his forehand and gave Sinner the break. But then something happened that was not expected.

Novak Djokovic announced that he had to withdraw due to injury. A murmur went through the stadium and Sinner probably also understood that he would be the new number 1 in the world from next Monday. This news obviously threw him off course a bit, because immediately afterwards he received the first break of the day. But he saved himself in the tiebreak, where he gained the decisive advantage with a fantastic ball pass. Dimitrov's resistance was now broken. Sinner used his first match point and ended this historic afternoon at the Bois de Boulogne.