Jannik Sinner sails to the 25th hard win in a row with victory in Cincinnati

Jannik Sinner expanded his winning run on hard courts to 25 games with a ruthless dismissal by Félix Auger-Aliassy in the Cincinnati Open Quarterfinals. Play in his first tournament since he lifted his fourth Grand Slam title in Wimbledon, the World No 1 and title defender, led to a 6-0, 6-2 victory against the Canadian.

Auger-Aliassime had won both earlier matches against Sinner, but was able to offer little resistance on Thursday, with the 23-year-old Italian start and ended the game with runs of six games in a row, which completed the victory in just 71 minutes.

Sinner, who will now be confronted with the Dane Holger Rune or the French qualifying match Terence Atmane, has not been beaten on his favorite surface since a loss for Carlos Alcaraz in Beijing at the beginning of October last year. “I felt that I was returning very well,” said Sinner, who only became the fifth man this century to achieve 25 consecutive victories on the surface, after Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray. “That was my most important point that gave me the confidence to serve well.

“I had a small drop in the second set when he broke me. I am glad I broke him again quite early. I felt that I was carrying out some great tennis.”

In the fourth round of the ladies, the second seed, Coco Gauff, Lucia Bronzetti of Italy abandoned Italy 6-2, 6-4 and is confronted with a quarterfinal match against the seventh seed, Jasmine Paolini, who varied a 6-1, 6-2 victory over the former Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova.

“For the most part I played aggressively,” Gauff said. “Maybe there were a few times that some of those games were a bit passive, but it’s hard – the balls are super light and she didn’t give me much pace. I just tried to play in a controlled way, but also aggressively and for the most part I think I did well.”

In the meantime, the former world no. 6 Matteo Berrettini has withdrawn from the US Open, said the organizers of the tournament yesterday. The Italian, in 59th place, has not participated since a loss of the first round with Wimbledon after recovering from a belly injury.

Berrettini opened the Swiss in Gstaad and the Masters 1000 events in Toronto and Cincinnati in the structure to the Grand Slam near Flushing Meadows, where he reached the semi -final in 2019. The American Brandon Holt takes its place in the main draw, where Singles promotion starts on 24 August.