Sinner reaches eighth final of season in Vienna

Jannik Sinner defeated Alex de Minaur in the eighth ATP final of the year in Vienna, beating him 6-3, 6-4.

The Italian world number two won the ATP 500 tournament for the fourth time in a row to extend his unbeaten streak to 12 wins against the third-seeded Australian.

Sinner battled his way through what he described as a “physical” encounter to prepare for a showdown with countryman Lorenzo Musetti or second seed Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s final despite being twice broken once in each set.

The top seed, who won at the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the China Open, expressed his satisfaction with how they handled the situation.

Sinner, who had severe cramped up from his previous tournament in Shanghai, said he arrived in Austria “quite late” as he hoped to win the 2023 title there.

He extended his winning streak to 20 matches, matching John McEnroe’s 47-match winning streak on indoor hard courts, which is still far below Sir Andy Murray’s best run on the surface.

Sinner, who became the first man to compete in eight finals in a row since Novak Djokovic in 2015-16, continued, “I tried to take every day in the best way possible.”

“I’m very happy that it wasn’t easy for me to [reach] the final here.”

“I was trying to play some good tennis and do very well.” I’m happy that I won today because the first set was very physical.