Jannik Sinner maintained his perfect record against compatriots on Thursday at the Erste Bank Open, where he eliminated Flavio Cobolli 6-2, 7-6(4) to reach the quarter-finals in Vienna.
The top seed recorded his fastest win of the season in his first-round match at the ATP 500 on Wednesday, as he raced past Daniel Altmaier in just 58 minutes. Sinner had to remain patient against Cobolli after a dominant first set, but found a way to advance and improve to 17-0 against Italians.
“He has had an incredible season and improved week by week, so I was looking forward to this season,” Sinner said. “He was one of the Italians I hadn’t played against yet. He’s a great talent and a great competitor and we both played great tennis at times. I had some chances in the second but couldn’t take them and that’s tennis. I tried to stay in the moment and play with a great mentality and I’m very happy with today’s match.”
Sinner didn’t face a break point in the first set and hit with ruthless depth to smother the 23-year-old. He wasn’t at his best in the second set, failing to convert any of the four break point chances he summoned against a red-hot Cobolli.
However, he was more proactive and consistent in the tiebreak, with Cobolli hitting a costly double fault at 3/4. Sinner did not give the 23-year-old a way back in and closed the serve clinically, finally breaking the 23-year-old’s resistance after one hour and 48 minutes.
Sinner won the trophy in his previous appearance in Vienna in 2023 and is now 14-4 at the event, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. The 24-year-old has also won his past 18 indoor matches and will meet Alexander Bublik in the quarter-finals.
Bublik upset Sinner on his way to the title at the ATP 500 in Halle in June, but the Italian got his revenge at the US Open, where he recorded a 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 victory. Sinner leads Bublik 5-2 overall in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.
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