Jannik Sinner crushed Pierre Hugues Herbert with a convincing 6-3, 6-1 result at the BettHULKS Championships to make his way to his third quarter-final of the 2020 season.
Last season’s Next Gen ATP Finals champions appeared dominant in returns, including winning 78 percent of points from his second serve. In his first tournament since breaking into the top 50 for the first time on October 12, he has lost just seven games en route to the quarter-finals of the Bet1HULKS Championships in Cologne Germany. In the first half he only lost three games when he beat James Duckworth.
“At the start of the match, it was quite difficult for both of us, because we were trying to understand how the opponent played,” said Jannik Sinner.
“I try to find the right keys to serve well, especially on break point opportunities. I think my performance this time is quite solid.”
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“I’ve never trained with Hugues Herbert, I’ve never played against him. He changes every ball. Knowing that Hugues Herbert is an extraordinary doubles player, you have to give him the ball that is difficult to anticipate.”
The young Italian advanced to the second quarter-final of the season in the indoor hard-court tournament after he also progressed to the quarter-finals in Rotterdam earlier this season.
Sinner will be looking to advance to the semifinals of the second ATP tournament of his career when he meets compatriot Hugues Herbert, Gilles Simon in the quarterfinals of the bett1HULKS Championships. Simon avenged his defeat in the first round of the French Open this season with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-win over third seed Denis Shapovalov.
“It was a really challenging match. Shapovalov has a very attacking game. He was really after everything. He missed a lot of things, but he also hit a lot of winners,” said Simon.
“I’m really happy with the way I played in this match and the focus I had throughout the match. I was really happy to beat Shapovalov, because it was a really impressive win. I had a tough match against him at the French Open. Unfortunately I lost that match, so I’m happy that I won this time.”
Simon took advantage of Shapovalov’s 13 double fouls and Shapovalov’s 50 percent successful first serve percentage to advance to the quarter-finals of the bett1HULKS Championships. The French national also broke the third seed on seven occasions to claim her first win in three meetings against the young Canadian.
