After Jannik Sinner triumphed in the semi-finals of the Vienna Open, the world No. 4 took the time to give a little bit of a shout-out to his China Open foe, Daniil Medvedev, teasing him with “Now clay season starts, let’s see how you do there.”
The two have faced each other three times in the finals and seven times overall in their careers. Sinner has only managed to defeat Medvedev once, during their most recent encounter at the China Open, to which Medvedev quipped, “Daniil, thank you for one win.” With a current record of 6-1, the crowd is excited to see their showdown once more in their fourth meeting in the finals at the Erste Bank Open, Vienna.
Last time, Sinner thanked his foe for motivating him to become a better player, “We had some very tough battles, especially this year. Most importantly, thanks for making me a much better player. We have been practicing a lot for trying to beat you, so, thank you so much.”
Sinner commends Medvedev
Now, there seemed to be a much lighter air between the two, with Sinner taking the time to commend Medvedev for his recent performances and subsequently cracking yet another joke-slash-tease to Medvedev.
“Congrats Daniil not only for this tournament and playing incredible tennis. Congrats to you and obviously, your team is doing an incredible job. Now, that clay season starts, let’s see how you do there. But, I wish you all the best.”
Following the humorous comment, the audience erupted in laughter, and both Sinner and Medvedev broke into a smile.
Semi-final: Sinner vs. Rublev
On Saturday, Sinner defeated Andrey Rublev 7-5 7-6(5) in Vienna to reach the finals of the Erste Bank Open.
The triumph was a watershed moment in Italian tennis history since it was the first time since 1968 that a player had 55 victories in a single Open Era season, edging over Corrado Barazzutti’s 54 wins in 1978.
Despite this, there is still a chance that Sinner may improve on this record in the near future, as he still has one final and two more tournaments to play before the end of the season, including the Masters 1000 tournament in Paris and the ATP Finals, as per Tennis.com.
Flying the flag 🇮🇹👏@janniksin edges Rublev 7-5, 7-6(5) to become the top Italian with the most wins (55) in a single season in the Open Era@ErsteBankOpen | #erstebankopen pic.twitter.com/E5aBcBm6YO
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 28, 2023
The fans also congratulated the player on X, with one user commenting, “A joy watching him play and he’s so deserves his 🇮🇹 💐. His progression over the season has been apparent, and he’s obviously putting in the hard work. Seems to have ice water running through his veins, but inside he HAS TO BE a little 😵💫. POKER FACE😎GO GET🏆@janniksin !!!
While another added, “Jannik Sinner is a class of his own. A perfect example of an elite pro tennis player.👏👏👏#Jannik #Sinner.
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Cover Photo: YouTube