Top Seed Sinner Eases Past Bublik to Reach French Open Semifinals

Jannik Sinner booked himself a second consecutive semi-final appearance at Roland Garros on Wednesday with a typically ruthless straight-sets victory over unseeded Kazakh Alexander Bublik. The world number one cruised through his quarter-final match 6-1, 7-5, 6-0 in one hour and 49 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier, and is still yet to drop a set at the French Open this year. Sinner will next face Novak Djokovic for a place in Sunday's final, after the 24-time Grand Slam winner beat Alexander Zverev in four sets. "(Djokovic) has shown now in the last period that he is back to the level," said Sinner of his last-four opponent. "He plays very, very well, so it's going to be even there quite tactical, but very, very difficult. He's such an experienced player, 24 Grand Slams. I think that says everything." Sinner and Djokovic are tied at 4-4 in their past match-ups. However, the Italian has bested the veteran in their last three meetings, including a four-set win in the Australian Open semi-finals last year on the way to his first major crown.

World number two Carlos Alcaraz said his last-eight dismantling of Tommy Paul on Tuesday was in part "inspired" by Sinner and his time-sensitive approach to tennis over the last fortnight. Sinner has spent less than 10 hours on court through his first five matches as he has systematically taken apart his opponents for the loss of very few games. "He (Sinner) inspired me in some ways just to give my 100 percent every match and I see how important it is just to play such a great level in the whole match, just to have more time then to recover after the match," Alcaraz told reporters after his 94-minute win. And the 23-year-old showed centre court just what his rival meant by wrapping up the first set in just over half-an-hour. Bublik, ranked 62, managed to get a foothold in the second set as he matched Sinner game for game through the majority of the frame, but never managed to force a break point and really put pressure on the Italian.

Bublik then presented Sinner with his chance to secure a 2-0 lead with a double-fault when serving at 30-40 in the 11th game. Not known for his propensity to look a gift horse in the mouth, Sinner closed out the second set by holding the next game to love. He started the third by making it back-to-back breaks on Bublik's serve, before racing through the rest of the set and clinching the match at the first time of asking with a cross-court forehand. "I just tried to stay focused on my side of the court, so tried to stay as solid as possible because he (Bublik) can have ups and downs," said Sinner. "It was a good performance from my side... against these kind of players you have to be very consistent." Sinner has now won four of his five meetings with Bublik -- his only defeat coming when he was forced to retire injured when trailing the 27-year-old at Halle two years ago. "We've played a couple of times before so I knew a little what to expect but with him you never know what's happening," added Sinner of his unconventional opponent.