Jannik Sinner emphatically ended his four-match dropping streak in opposition to Stefanos Tsitsipas with a 6-4, 6-3 win on Thursday night time on the ABN AMRO Open. The Rotterdam victory is the Italian’s first in opposition to a Top 3 opponent.

The 21-year-old, who misplaced in 5 units to Tsitsipas in one of many matches of the Australian Open, used a dominant serving efficiency and an aggressive return sport to earn his first win in opposition to the Greek since 2020. Sinner received 89 per cent of his first-serve factors and transformed on three of his 4 break factors, a backhand passing shot clinching his third break and the match after one hour, 21 minutes. He didn’t face a break level.

“It means a lot obviously,” Sinner mentioned of the most important win of his profession by measure of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. “A whole lot of work behind. I’m very joyful. I performed some good tennis, very focussed in the present day. Hopefully I can hold it going however for certain, Stef is an unbelievable participant. I’ve quite a lot of respect for him. He performed unbelievable tennis this yr already.

“I was looking forward to this match to be honest, after my win yesterday already. So I’m very happy about my performance today.”

Sinner improved to 2-5 in his ATP Head2Head in opposition to Tsitsipas, the highest seed in Rotterdam. After three straight-set defeats from 2021-22, the Italian has rotated their rivalry this season, profitable 4 of the previous 5 units. He fell simply quick in a five-set thriller within the Australian Open fourth spherical, however left nothing to probability in a complete victory on the ATP 500.

“Head-to-head I am still far back to him,” Sinner mentioned. “For me this is a very important win. I lost a tough one in Australia, where I felt like I was playing great. Today I was also playing good.”

Up two locations to No. 12 within the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings this week, Sinner will meet Stan Wawrinka in Friday’s quarter-finals. The Swiss defeated Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-3 on Wednesday and has not dropped a set — or his serve — in two Rotterdam matches.

“I’m very happy that he is playing again at a very, very high level,” Sinner mentioned of the 37-year-old. “I played last year at Wimbledon against him. He has improved a lot from that point. I know him quite well. He is a hard worker. It’s going to be a tough march for sure.”