Jannik Sinner continued his late-season surge to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals on Friday, when he defeated Aleksandar Vukic 6-2, 6-3 to reach the semi-finals at the Sofia Open.
In a dominant display, the Italian crushed 21 winners, while he demonstrated good touch around the net to seal his 45th tour-level win of the season. The top seed is up one place to No. 12 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin following his quarter-final win and will rise to No. 10 if he wins his third straight Sofia title.
Sinner competed on home soil in Turin as an alternate last season and is looking to finish the season strongly as he aims to qualify for the prestigious end-of-year event, held from 13-20 November.
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The 21-year-old now holds a standout 11-0 record in Sofia. He captured the crown on debut at the ATP 250 event in 2020, before he successfully retained his title last year. Sinner is just two wins away from triumphing again after he overpowered the Australian Vukic to book his spot in the semi-finals after 81 minutes. The 2019 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals champion will next face fifth-seeded Dane Holger Rune or Ilya Ivashka.
In other action, #NextGenATP Italian Lorenzo Musetti moved past German Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6(3), 6-1 to reach his second tour-level semi-final of the season.
The 20-year-old showcased a combination of quality and grit, rallying from a break down in the first set before firing an array of winners in the second set to seal his victory after 77 minutes.
Musetti, who lifted his maiden tour-level trophy in Hamburg in July, will next meet Marc-Andrea Huesler after the Swiss edged Kamil Majchrzak 6-7(4), 7-6(6), 6-3. Huesler saved two match points in the second-set tie-break before he won 93 per cent (13/14) of his first-serve points in the third set to advance.