Jannik Sinner’s clinical deconstruction of Alex De Minaur was a lesson in class
The World No 1 was victorious in his quarter-final 6-3 6-2 6-1 and moved a step closer to another Australian Open title
Jannik Sinner continued his quest for consecutive Australian Open titles with a clinical deconstruction of Alex de Minaur in the last of the men’s singles quarter-finals.
Rarely in professional sport is one person so visibly better than their opponent in every aspect of play than this. Serves, second serves, movement, accuracy, and ball-striking all favoured the 23-year-old who put on a display that validated his ranking as the best tennis player in the world... not that he needed to.
Sinner had to deal with niggles and illness in his fourth-round victory over Holger Rune but there was no sign of those struggles as he swept De Minaur aside 6-3 6-2 6-1 in straight sets at the Rod Lever Arena.
The Italian now faces big-serving American Ben Shelton in the last four on Friday as he aims to reach back-to-back finals.
“These kind of matches can go quickly but they can also change very fast if I go down a level,” said Sinner when discussing his victory on court after the match.
It’s safe to say his level didn’t drop once. From the opening set when he broke De Minaur’s serve in the fourth game to the final match point, Sinner was a relentless force of constant pressure.
De Minaur came into the match hoping to emulate Australian tennis greats Nick Kyrgios and Lleyton Hewitt, by reaching the semi-finals of a home tournament. In truth, he never stood a chance.
The 25-year-old has now faced Sinner 10 times in his career and has lost every one of those matches. They’ve played 24 sets with De Minaur triumphing in just one. He didn’t come close to challenging for a spot in the semis, though not through a lack of effort.
The Australian hurried around court, lunged to make returns he never should have been able to get back, and delved into backup plan after backup plan to unsettle Sinner and knock him off his game.
Nothing worked. The Italian was a class above.
There have been similar one-sided matchups. Roger Federer won all 17 of his matches against Spain’s David Ferrer while Novak Djokovic has triumphed 20 times over Gael Monfils. Sometimes an opponent is just better than you. Alex de Minaur knows that’s the case with Jannik Sinner.
During the match, Sinner recorded 27 winners with most of them struck at his Australian opponent at around 136kmph (85mph) which is quick when you’re in the midst of a long rally. He also won 84 per cent of his first serve points, 81 per cent of his second serve points and converted six of his 10 break points. He faced just one break point and saved that.
And therein lay the advantage. His heavy shots were slightly heavier than De Minaur’s, his flicks coming at sharper angles, his long efforts landing closer to the baseline and the corner, his serves more accurate and penetrating. These little gains built up to the crescendo that was a comfortable straight-set victory.
Though it may seem a disservice to De Minaur, Sinner even stepped up a gear in the final game of the match and peppered backhands down the line to secure a third break of serve and victory. It’s surprising how he could be so ruthless and dominant yet still have reserves in the tank.
That should play into his favour when he faces America’s Shelton in the semi-finals later this week.
"Last year we played some very tough matches,” Sinner added when asked how he sees that match versus Shelton playing out.
"Obviously he's one of the best servers on tour, he's a lefty and [a] different rotation on the ball is coming, hopefully I'm ready.
“Hopefully, I can return as many serves as possible and then try to stay very concentrated about my game like today and stay aggressive. We will see."
Shelton’s victory was a completely different affair. He started off strongly against Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego and took the opening two sets 6-4, 7-5 managing to raise his game at key moments. In the third set, Sonego, ranked 55 and playing in his first grand slam quarter-final, attacked the net repeatedly and rode the momentum deep into a fourth-set tie-break. Yet, a relieved Shelton fell back on his big serves which saw him clinch the match and set up a clash with Sinner for a place in the final.
“I feel relieved right now,” said Shelton on court after his win. “Shout out to Lorenzo Sonego because that was some ridiculous tennis. I’m really happy to be through, get my first win [at the] Rod Laver Arena. It’s one of my favourite matches of my career.”
Elsewhere, Iga Swiatek cruised past Emma Navarro 6-1, 6-2 in their Women’s Singles quarter-final which was overshadowed by a double-bounce controversy while Madison Keys secured a surprising 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Elina Svitolina to set up a meeting with Swiatek.