Top-seeded Jannik Sinner coasts into Cincinnati semifinals

No. 1 seed Jannik Sinner of Italy needed just an hour and 15 minutes to dispose of 23rd-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-0, 6-2 to advance to the semifinals of the Cincinnati Open Thursday in Mason, Ohio.

Sinner got off to a dominant start to his quarterfinal matchup, winning the first set in 27 minutes and losing just two points across his three first-set service games. Auger-Aliassime broke Sinner to start the second set and opened a 2-0 lead, but the Italian roared back, winning each of the next six games to close out the match.

"I had a small drop in the second set when he broke me. It could have been a small change but I am happy I broke him back quite early," Sinner said. "He is a very difficult opponent because he serves well, he moves well, physically in incredible shape and hits the forehand very well. But we prepared in the best way, also tactically and I felt like today I was playing some great tennis."

It was Sinner's 11th straight victory and his first-ever win over Auger-Aliassime in the first match between the two since 2022.

After winning the 2024 Cincinnati Open, Sinner is through his first four matches in this year's event without dropping a set. He's the first competitor to punch his ticket to the semifinals and will face the winner of Thursday evening's match between No. 7 seed Holger Rune of Denmark and unseeded Frenchman Terence Atmane for a spot in the championship.

It may not have been quite as easy for him as it was for Sinner, but American Ben Shelton similarly continued his strong run with a 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 22 seed Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic to advance to the quarterfinals.

It was a clutch performance for fifth-seeded Shelton, who was locked into 4-4 deadlocks in each of the two sets vs. Lehecka before breaking him each time and then serving to clinch the set.

Shelton faces No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany in a quarterfinal matchup between two players who have each not yet dropped a set in this event.

-Field Level Media