SINNER EXPECTS TACTICAL DECIDER

World No. 1 overcomes local wild card at China Open to advance to final with Alcaraz

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BEIJING – Jannik Sinner ignored the bubbling controversy over his doping case and a roaring home crowd to set up a China Open final against Carlos Alcaraz.

The world No. 1 and defending champion defeated the 96th-ranked Chinese wild card Bu Yunchaokete 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) on Oct 1 to avoid a major upset.

The Italian faces Spanish second seed Alcaraz, who was in fine form in a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev in the other semi-final.

Said Sinner of Alcaraz: “We know each other very well. It’s going to be tactical, but I’m looking forward to it… the situation on the court is also a bit different than it was the last two matches.”

In front of a packed house on China’s National Day, US Open champion Sinner was facing a player he had never met before and who was competing in the biggest match of his life.

China’s 22-year-old Bu was also in the form of his life, having similarly reached the semi-finals last week in Hangzhou.

Bu had Sinner under pressure on the Italian’s serve early in the first set, but Sinner staved off the threat and the storm gradually blew itself out as the set wore on.