Jannik Sinner is getting closer to his second consecutive Masters 1000 final, but standing in his way is the brash Danish star Holger Rune. The winner will face either Andrey Rublev or Taylor Fritz in the Monte-Carlo final.
Italy’s Jannik Sinner has positioned himself as one of the hottest players on the ATP tour now. The 21-year-old made his way to the semifinals in the first Masters 1000 event of the season in Indian Wells, where he lost to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz. He did one better in Miami last month, where he beat Alcaraz but lost to Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the final.
He now finds himself at the business end of a tournament yet again. But this time there is no Alcaraz and no Medvedev in his way. Instead he will face Holger Rune, the controversial 19 year-old from Denmark. Rune manages to ruffle feathers of both fans and fellow players with his antics, causing both ill will from some of his colleagues and ire from fans–and plenty of media attention.
This is a compelling matchup of young guns. Sinner is enjoying better form at the moment, with the Italian posting an impressive 21-5 record on the season so far. It’s just a matter of time until he snags his first big-tournament title. It certainly wouldn’t be a shock if Sinner did it this week.
Still, it can’t be ignored that when Rune is playing out of his mind, he can beat anyone. The Dane’s run at the Paris Masters at the end of the 2022 season included five top-10 players including Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic. It remains one of the most impressive set of tournament wins ever. He hasn’t been on fire lately, though. Rune hasn’t won any titles yet this year and he got dismantled by Taylor Fritz in Miami.
This one should be a cracker. Expect a fight from both men, with Sinner just edging out the win in three.
Cheryl pick: Sinner in 3
Ricky pick: Sinner in 3
[yop_poll id=”141″]
Leave a Reply