Top seed and defending champion Jannik Sinner marched into the China Open final with a straight-sets win over Chinese wildcard Bu Yunchaokete.
Sinner was not at his best and faced not just a spirited opponent playing excellent tennis, but also an understandably partisan crowd on the Beijing show court.
But the world No. 1 stepped up a gear when he needed to and extended his winning streak to 15 matches in a row with a 6-3 7-6(3) victory.
Bu, ranked 96th in the world, is the first Chinese man to reach the last four in Beijing and has enjoyed a brilliant week in front of home crowds.
The surprise package at this stage in the tournament, he sent Wimbledon semi-finalist Lorenzo Musetti packing in the last 16 before knocking out fourth seed and world No. 6 Andrey Rublev in his quarter-final.
He went toe-to-toe with the defending champion in the baseline rallies Sinner normally dominates, and delighted the crowd with an array of net volleys and drop shots, but could not find the quality needed to pull off another huge upset.
“Today was a very tough match because I didn’t know him at all, so I didn’t know exactly what to expect,” Sinner said after his win.
“I tried to get into the rhythm, I felt like the first set I was playing some good tennis, then in the second set I dropped a little bit of intensity, then he raised his level.
“I had some chances in the second set, like yesterday [against Jiri Lehecka] to break a bit earlier, I couldn’t use them, so I tried to stay there mentally somehow.
“A set can go very fast away [from you] so I’m happy to be back in the finals.”
Sinner piled the pressure on early with a hold to love, and Bu looked a little nervous, struggling to land his first serve, but rapidly grew into the match with the backing of the 13,000-seater Diamond Court.
The defending champion had chances to break in Bu’s first service game but saw them slip away as the Chinese No. 3 held his own in their backhand exchanges.
He looked more confident after getting the early hold, gesturing to the crowd for more applause at a delightful volleyed winner, and soon had chances of his own on Sinner’s serve, dominating at the net and charging forward.
The Italian took 11 and a half minutes to hold for 3-2, serving well but not managing to put the game to bed until Bu netted, unable to take any of three break points.
It was to prove a costly miss as Sinner immediately turned the heat up, breaking as Bu skied a shot wide, before holding to love.
Bu once again looked a little nervous but dug deep to hold for 5-3, capitalising on some uncharacteristic errors by the Italian to keep within striking distance, but it was the defending champion who took the opener as Bu misfired a return.
Bu came out firing in the second set, unbothered by the scoreboard pressure, and continued to frustrate the world No. 1.
A brilliant, crafty drop shot by Sinner gave him an early chance to break, but Bu found some excellent first serves to stay in front at 3-2.
Bu dictated from the baseline while Sinner played some uncharacteristically loose shots, unable to find a breakthrough, and the set went on serve.
A double fault by Bu at 5-5 opened the door for Sinner, but the wildcard stayed on the front foot, playing confident, aggressive tennis, and Sinner fired long. The Italian held to love as a Bu drop shot fell short to send the set to a tiebreak.
A pair of errors cancelled out an early mini-break for Sinner, but from 2-1 up, he began to pull away, playing his best tennis of the match so far.
A glorious forehand, a winner just nicking the baseline, and an ace down the T gave Sinner five match points, and while Bu found two immaculate serves, the next match point fell on Sinner’s serve.
Another formidable ace out wide sealed the tie-break and secured a spot in the final for the second consecutive year for Sinner, while the crowd made their appreciation clear for the home favourite’s excellent performance.
Sinner will play friend and rival Carlos Alcaraz in the final after the Spaniard downed Daniil Medvedev for the fourth time in a row, winning 7-5 6-3 to set up his first final in Asia.
Sinner has won his past four ATP 500 events and has the chance to extend a 24-0 record at this level when he faces Alcaraz on Tuesday.
The four-time major winner has won their previous two meetings, but Sinner dispatched him at the semi-final stage en route to winning the title in Beijing last year.
“Tomorrow is going to be completely different, we know each other very well,” Sinner said. “It’s going to be tactical, but I’m looking forward to it.
“Today, I’ll try to rest, to switch off, and tomorrow, obviously, it’s going to be a tough match.
“But every match is different. The situation on the court is a bit different than it was the last two matches [we played].
“My season is going very well, and playing finals is always a great moment, so I just hope that tomorrow is going to be a good match from both of us.” [eurosport.com]
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