New world number one Sinner sails into French Open semi-finals after defeating Dimitrov
Jonathan Davies
June 4, 2024 23:47 MYT
June 4, 2024 23:47 MYT
Jannik Sinner celebrated becoming the new world number one with a straight-sets victory over Grigor Dimitrov booking his place in the French Open semi-finals.
Following Novak Djokovic's withdrawal from Roland-Garros due to a knee injury, the Italian moves to the summit of the ATP rankings for the first time in his career.
In fitting fashion, Sinner secured his maiden passage into the last four of the clay-court major after ousting Dimitrov 6-2 6-4 7-6 (7- ) in just under two-and-a-half hours on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
The reigning Australian Open champion landed the early blow with back-to-back breaks in games five and seven on the way to drawing first blood.
Another break in the opening game of the second proved decisive as he held out for a two-set lead.
The second seed then had a chance to serve for the match after he broke in game nine of set three. Although Dimitrov responded immediately, the Bulgarian only delayed the inevitable as Sinner would dominate the tie-break to advance.
1 - Following Novak Djokovic's retirement from the Roland Garros 2024, Jannik Sinner will be on Monday 10th June the first Italian player at the World No. 1 since the ATP Rankings were published in 1973. Historic.#rolandgarros | @rolandgarros @atptour pic.twitter.com/DOAeH0liud — OptaAce (@OptaAce) June 4, 2024
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Data Debrief: Italian job well done by the new world number one
Sinner is the first Italian man to become world number one since the rankings were first published in 1973.
The 22-year-old is now 4-0 in his first four grand slam matches against top-10 opponents this year, making him the youngest player to achieve that feat since Jim Courier in 1992.
After Stefanos Tsitsipas, he is also just the second player in the last 15 years to reach the semi-finals at the Australian Open and French Open in the same season.