Jannik Sinner extended his winning run on hard courts to 25 matches with a ruthless dismissal of Félix Auger-Aliassime in the Cincinnati Open quarter-finals. Playing in his first tournament since lifting his fourth grand slam title at Wimbledon, the world No 1 and defending champion powered to a 6-0, 6-2 victory against the Canadian.
Auger-Aliassime had won both his previous matches against Sinner but could offer little resistance on Thursday, with the Italian beginning and ending the contest with runs of six games in a row, completing victory in just 71 minutes. Sinner has not been beaten on his favourite surface since a loss to Carlos Alcaraz in Beijing in early October last year.
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In the women’s fourth round, the second seed, Coco Gauff, saw off Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti 6-2, 6-4 and will next face the seventh seed, Jasmine Paolini, who eased to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over former Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova.
“For the most part I played aggressive,” said Gauff. “Maybe there were a couple of times that were a little bit passive in some of those games but it’s tough – the balls are super light and she wasn’t giving me much pace. I was just trying to play controlled but also aggressive and, for the most part, I think I did well.”
Meanwhile, the former world No 6 Matteo Berrettini has withdrawn from the US Open, tournament organisers said yesterday. The Italian, ranked 59th, has not competed since a first-round loss at Wimbledon in June after he had recovered from an abdominal injury.
Berrettini skipped the Swiss Open in Gstaad and the Masters 1000 events in Toronto and Cincinnati in the buildup to the grand slam at Flushing Meadows, where he reached the semi-finals in 2019. The American Brandon Holt will take his place in the main draw, where singles action begins on 24 August.
