Carreno Busta downs Sinner to enter Rotterdam Open semi-finals

Pablo Carreno Busta saved two match points on Friday to become the first Spaniard to reach the Rotterdam Open for 11 years.

Carreno Busta fought hard in a 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(6) victory over Italian wild card Jannik Sinner in two hours and 45 minutes to follow in the footsteps of compatriot Rafael Nadal, who reached the 2009 final of the tournament.

Having had three match points at 5-4 in the deciding set, the World No. 30 found himself down 4/6 in the tie-break, but held his nerve to reach his first ATP Tour semi-final since October 2019 at the Stockholm Open (l. to Krajinovic).

The first set looked destined for the tie-break, but Sinner came undone at 5-5 when he mis-timed a backhand long and forehand into the net to hand Carreno Busta the first break. The Spaniard then recovered from 0/30, when serving for the 49-minute opener, which finished with Sinner lunging for a backhand.

Sinner applied the pressure in the second set, with Carreno Busta saving four break points before overhitting a forehand long at 3-4. Sinner closed out the 48-minute set to love with Carreno Busta striking another forehand long.

Carreno Busta regrouped, but needed to save four break points in the opening game of the third set en route to a 3-0 advantage. Sinner’s heavy ball-striking had seen him drag a forehand wide to hand Carreno Busta the second game. Carreno Busta served for the match at 5-3, but deep returning from Sinner reaped a break. Sinner then dropped to 0/40 at 4-5, but worked his way back – courtesy of two groundstroke errors from Carreno Busta, and a massive forehand winner at 30/40.

Sinner struck a forehand into the net on his first match point at 6/4 in the tie-break and Carreno Busta hit a serve-volley winner at 5/6 to keep his hopes alive. The match ended with Sinner striking a backhand wide, his 21st of 48 total errors.

Auger-Aliassime advanced with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in 77 minutes.

Defending champion and third seed Gael Monfils progressed with a 6-4 6-1 win over fellow Frenchman Gilles Simon.

Russian Andrey Rublev continued his impressive form with a 7-5 6-3 victory over Alexander Bublik to extend his win record in 2020 to 13-1.

Meanwhile, India’s Rohan Bopanna and his Canadian partner Denis Shapovalov have entered the semifinals of the Rotterdam Open with a thrilling victory over fourth seeds and 2015 champion team of Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau.

The Indo-Canadian pair registered a 6-2, 3-6, 10-7 victory in 74 minutes on Thursday night to enter the last four of the ATP 500 event.

Bopanna and Shapovalov, who reached their first ATP Tour final in June last year at the MercedesCup in Stuttgart, will meet the winners of match between Henri Kontinen and Jan-Lennard Struff versus Jamie Murray and Ken Skupski.

Bopanna and Shapovalov had entered the quarterfinals by beating the Australian pair of John Peers and Michael Venus 7-6, 6-7, 10-8 in a gripping encounter.

Elsewhere, Nao Hibino advanced to the semifinals of the Thailand Open by beating fourth-rankedo 4 Elina Svitoline ,6-4 6on-Fridayday.

It was the 84th-ranked Japanese player’s first win over a top-five player.

“Elina is one of the best players in the world in the world,” said Hibino, a two-time champion on the WTA Tour. “I’ve watched her play on TV so many times.”

Also, Magda Linette defeated 18-year-old Chinese player Xiyu Wang 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.

The 42nd-ranked Pole will next face Patricia Maria Tig, who defeated fourth-seeded Saisai Zheng 6-4, 6-2.

Agencies