Jannik Sinner overcame a tricky test in the Vienna quarterfinals, comfortably dispatching the big-serving Alexander Bublik, who had handed Sinner a tough defeat in Halle earlier this year, a loss that had ended several of Sinner’s notable streaks at the time.
By avoiding a repeat of the Halle setback in Vienna, Sinner has prevented Alexander Bublik from derailing more of his ongoing impressive streaks. Notably, he extends his nearly two-year unbeaten run on indoor hard courts, currently on a 20-match winning streak on this surface, with his last loss coming against Novak Djokovic in the 2023 ATP Finals title match.
The world No. 2 is also riding an eight-match winning streak in Vienna, having claimed the title here during his last visit in 2023. Since that edition, Sinner has played 14 hard-court semifinals (both indoor and outdoor) and won 13 of them, with his only loss coming against Carlos Alcaraz in Indian Wells last year.
By withdrawing from next month’s Davis Cup final, Sinner’s focus is clear: go full throttle in Vienna, the Paris Masters, and the ATP Finals, aiming to win them all and reclaim the world No. 1 ranking from Carlos Alcaraz, a spot he lost just a few weeks ago. A title in Vienna would cut the gap with Alcaraz to under 1,000 points, making next week’s Paris Masters an even more compelling and high-stakes showdown.
Alex de Minaur has followed his usual pattern in this Vienna campaign, comfortably defeating the opponents he was expected to beat. The next challenge is stepping up and taking down the bigger names, something he often struggles with and does not yet seem ready to do consistently. In that sense, this matchup presents an opportunity for him to test himself and demonstrate his progress.
While it may be frustrating for him to consistently reach the later stages yet struggle against the top-tier players, this consistency still serves him well. He is inching closer to securing ATP Finals qualification for the second consecutive year, and with players like Ben Shelton and Felix Auger-Aliassime already out this week, he has some breathing room.
De Minaur’s most recent tour semifinal was against Jannik Sinner in Beijing, where he lost in three sets. His last ATP Vienna campaign also ended in the semifinals of the 2024 edition, falling to Karen Khachanov in straight sets.
Head-to-head: Jannik Sinner leads 11–0. Alex De Minaur will need to find a way to counter Sinner or hope to avoid him, as the H2H record has entered a painfully one-sided zone. The positive for the Aussie is that he managed to take a rare set off Sinner for only the second time ever in Beijing a few weeks ago. It will be interesting to see if he can build on that competitive performance and challenge the Italian once more.
