Jannik Sinner defeated Alexander Zverev 7-6(9), 5-7, 7-6(4) in a three-hour-long battle to reach the ongoing Cincinnati Open final despite limping at times.
Sinner, who won his first Grand Slam this year by winning the Australia Open, was struggling with his hip pain, which made him withdraw from the 2024 Paris Olympics, but the Italian displayed a great show of tennis and defeated the 2021 Cinninacti champion.
Sinner will now take on Frances Tiafoe in the final on Monday.
“Sometimes you have to play a bit with the gut feeling. And I think this today was, my strength,” Sinner said in his on-court interview.
“[There were] some up and downs, which can happen, especially when you play [for] more than three hours. It was a good match, I think for both of us. He served very, very well, so I can be very proud.”
The Italian had not gone past the round of 16 before the ongoing edition at Cincinnati Open and now he is just one win away from winning his fifth title of the season.
“It means a lot to me. It's a very different moment, what I'm going through, so I'm very happy about this result," Sinner said. "The physical aspect, of course, I have to improve, because if I want to win Grand Slams or a bigger title, I have to be, for sure, more in shape. But I just tried to stay there mentally, which I'm very proud [of], and let's see what's coming tomorrow.
“[It was] a tough match, an exciting match. [The] atmosphere has been amazing throughout the whole match,” Sinner said. “Many, many different conditions. We started off with [it] sunny, then after came the rain. Now [it] was night session, so we had a lot of tension for both of us. I'm very happy about this performance, and obviously very happy to be in the final.”
