ATP Tour

Sinner sets tantalising showdown with Bublik in Vienna

Jannik Sinner maintained his perfect record against countrymen on Thursday at the Erste Bank Open, where he eliminated Flavio Cobolli 6-2, 7-6(4) to reach the quarter-finals in Vienna.

The top seed earned his quickest win of the season in his first-round match at the ATP 500 on Wednesday, when he raced past Daniel Altmaier in just 58 minutes. Sinner had to remain patient against Cobolli after a dominant first set but found a way to advance and improve to 17-0 against Italians.

"He has been playing an incredible season and has been improving week after week, so I was looking forward to this one," Sinner said. "He was one of the Italians I had not played yet. He is a great talent and a great competitor and we both played some great tennis at times. I had some chances in the second but could not use them and that is tennis. I tried to stay in the moment and play with a great mentality and I am very happy with today's match."

Sinner did not face a break point in the first set and hit with relentless depth to suffocate the 23-year-old. He was not at his free-flowing best in the second set and failed to convert any of the four break point opportunities he conjured against a red-hot Cobolli.

However, he was the more proactive and consistent in the tie-break, with Cobolli hitting a costly double fault at 3/4. Sinner did not give the 23-year-old a way back in, closing out clinically on serve to eventually break the 23-year-old's resistance after one hour and 48 minutes.

Sinner lifted the trophy in his previous appearance in Vienna in 2023 and is now 14-4 at the event, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. The 24-year-old has also won his past 18 indoor matches and will meet Alexander Bublik in the quarter-finals.

Bublik upset Sinner en route to the title at the ATP 500 in Halle in June, but the Italian gained revenge at the US Open, where he earned a 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 win. Sinner leads Bublik 5-2 overall in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

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