The top four seeds at the ATP 500 in Vienna have all advanced to the semi-finals. No. 1 Jannik Sinner will face No. 3 Alex de Minaur on Saturday, while No. 2 Alexander Zverev will face No. 4 Lorenzo Musetti.
(1) Jannik Sinner vs. (3) Alex de Minaur
A semi-final in Beijing just a few weeks ago was a moral victory for De Minaur and a literal victory for Sinner. De Minaur ended a ridiculous 21-set losing streak in this head-to-head match when he took the second, although the Australian ultimately lost 6-3, 4-6, 6-2. Sinner has won all 11 previous meetings on his way to the semi-finals of the Erste Bank Open on Saturday, and the Italian is 27-2 in total sets.
Sinner will likely return to his usual behavior in this Vienna clash. The world number 2 will be in lockdown after dropping a set to De Minaur in their most recent meeting, and will be keen to conserve energy with no time off between Vienna and the Paris Masters. Sinner has been in a hurry so far this week, obliterating Daniel Altmaier, Flavio Cobolli and Alexander Bublik in straight sets. De Minaur booked his place in the last four by beating Jurij Rodionov, Filip Misolic and Matteo Berrettini. The world number 7 is playing great, but he simply cannot compete with his opponent’s firepower.
Choice: sinner in 2
(4) Lorenzo Musetti vs. (2) Alexander Zverev
Zverev and Musetti will face each other for the fifth time in their careers on Saturday. Musetti leads the head-to-head series 3-1 and has never lost to Zverev by anything other than retirement. The Italian won twice last season (including at the same event in Vienna via a 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 decision) before getting the job done in the quarter-finals in Rome 7-6(1), 6-4.
Thanks to his own great form and the retirement of Felix Auger-Aliassime in the Basel quarter-finals on Friday, Musetti appears to be heading straight for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin. The world number 8 is 41-17 this year after consecutive victories this week over Hamad Medjedovic, Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Corentin Moutet. All three opponents only got seven games. Zverev defeated Jake Fearnley in a third-set tiebreak and then dismissed Matteo Arnaldi 6-4, 6-4 before getting a walkover from Tallon Greekpoor. The third-ranked German’s confidence is much lower than Musetti’s these days, and it doesn’t help the No. 2 seed he’s had in this match in the past, including here in Vienna.
Choice: Musetti in 3
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