Jannik Sinner is into back-to-back Cincinnati Open finals, having beaten the qualifier, and the shock story of this event, Terence Atmane, in the semi-finals.
It was a really impressive performance from the Frenchman against the top-ranked man in the world, pushing him all the way in a first set only decided by a tiebreaker.
In the end, the quality of the four-time Grand Slam champion naturally shone through, as Atmane’s fairytale run was cut short.
However, he still deserves so much praise for the way in which he has conducted himself throughout the last week.
And, he now boasts famous wins over the likes of Joao Fonseca, Flavio Cobolli, Taylor Fritz and Holger Rune that will hopefully encourage him to continue his rapidly upward trajectory.
Jannik Sinner, clearly enamoured with the story and how tough yesterday’s match was, delivered his honest verdict on the 23-year-old.
Jannik Sinner thinks Terence Atmane has huge potential
Speaking in his on-court interview, naturally, the Italian cut an upbeat figure.
However, he also seemed acutely aware of how fine margins could have swung this match in the opposite direction, despite Atmane failing to bring about a single break point.
This was exemplified in his first four words: “Very, very tough challenge.”
Sinner continued: “Every time you play someone completely new, it’s very difficult. Playing against these guys in the later stages of tournaments makes it even more difficult. The pressure is higher; you know they deserve to be there. He’s beaten incredible players to reach the semifinals. I knew I had to be very careful.
“My mindset today was in a good spot. I handled the situations on the court very well. He was serving incredibly well in the first set.
“He has huge, huge potential, I think we saw this throughout the tournament. I wish him only the best. From my side, I’m very happy to be in the finals again.”
It’s been a really progressive few months for the youngster, especially given that Atmane was booed off the court at the French Open by his home crowd earlier this year.
Jannik Sinner is simply unstoppable
It seems that, at this point, you can throw anything at Sinner and he will bat it away with minimal fuss.
It can be different game styles; it does not bother him. He can out-serve the biggest serves, moves better than everyone else, hits the ball cleaner and harder, and can lock in during the biggest moments if things ever do get hairy.
Even Atmane, enjoying the form of his life and a relative unknown to the rest of the tour, could not even take a set away from the world number one.
The only man left who will hope to challenge him at the Cincinnati Open is Carlos Alcaraz, who has set up yet another mouth-watering clash in a final with his win over Alexander Zverev.
