By Alberto Amalfi | Thursday, September 29, 2022
Two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner stopped Nuno Borges 6-3, 6-4 to improve to 10-0 at the Sofia Open.
Photo credit: Getty
There's no place like home.
Unless you're Jannik Sinner in which case there's no place like Sofia.
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Two-time defending tournament champion Sinner stopped Nuno Borges 6-3, 6-4 to improve to a perfect 10-0 at the Sofia Open.
Sinner, who held a match point against eventual-champion Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open earlier this month, raised his 2022 record to 44-13.
"The first matches of any tournament are difficult," Sinner said in his on-court interview. "Thank you to the crowd for their support. This is a special place for me. My goal is to develop my game after a game."
Launching his quest for a third straight Sofia championship, and second title in 2022, Sinner smacked 10 aces against 5 double faults and won 32 of 36 first-serve points.
The world No. 10 wrapped up an 85-minute win to set up a quarterfinal against Aleksandar Vukic.
The 144th-ranked Vukic backed up his opening round upset of former Top 10 player Fabio Fognini by fending off former world No. 7 Fernando Verdasco 1-6, 6-4, 6-3. Wild card Vukic converted three of four break points.
Earlier, Swiss Marc-Andrea Huesler shocked second-seeded Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, converting three of 10 break-point chances. Huesler took care of serve pumping eight aces and winning 33 of 37 first-serve points to advance to his second quarterfinal in his last four Tour-level tournaments.
No. 5-seeded Holger Rune did not drop serve defeating Italian Lorenzo Sonego 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-3. Sonego was coming off a title run in Metz on Saturday.
Rune scored his second three-set win over Sonego this season.
The 19-year-old Rune will face Ilya Ivashka next with the winner meeting either Sinner or Vukic in Saturday's semifinals.