Sinner notches 200th career win, moves into semi-finals in Rotterdam

Jannik Sinner’s unbeaten start to the 2024 season continued Friday at the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam.

The 22-year-old Italian and top seed at the indoor 500 advanced to the semi-finals after Milos Raonic was forced to retire from the pair’s quarter-final clash due to a right hip injury.

Sinner led 7-6(4), 1-1, when the former World No. 3 Raonic called a halt to proceedings at Rotterdam Ahoy, where the players were contesting their maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash. Earlier, the Australian Open champion Sinner had saved two set points at 4-5, 15/40 before clinching the opening set in a tie-break.

“He is for sure one of the toughest opponents to play against,” said Sinner of Raonic in his post-match interview. “This is a very unusual challenge you have on court. He serves incredibly well. I was up a break first set and I missed a couple of things. For the past two rounds, I have struggled a little bit to find myself on the court. Also today, I felt like he was playing better than me the first set.

“I just tried to stay somehow mentally, but at the end of the day this is not how you want to win this match. He had so many injuries throughout his career and hopefully he will have a speedy recovery.”

Now 10-0 for the season after the 200th tour-level win of his career, Sinner will next take on home hope Tallon Griekspoor on Saturday night. It will be a repeat of the duo’s 2023 semi-final clash, in which Sinner prevailed in straight sets before falling short in the championship match against Daniil Medvedev.

Sinner is the seventh Italian male to notch 200 tour-level wins in the Open Era, and the first man born after 2000 to hit that milestone. The World No. 4, an 11-time tour-level titlist, holds an overall record of 200-74.