Jannik Sinner surges past Alex de Minaur to book 30th career final

Jannik Sinner extended his dominance over Australian Alex de Minaur Tuesday at the China Open, recording a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 victory to book his place in the Beijing final for a third straight year.

The win not only preserved his flawless head-to-head record against the Aussie (11-0) but also sent the Italian into his 30th tour-level final and ninth hard-court title match on the trot.

The two-hour, 20 minute contest was anything but routine. Sinner came out sharp and used his heavy forehand through the middle to control the rallies and push De Minaur side to side — a strategy that helped deliver the opening set to him.

But the match swung in the second set when De Minaur raised his intensity and capitalized on a rare dip in Sinner’s level. The Australian cleaned up his errors, limited himself to just eight unforced mistakes, and forced his way to win only his second-ever set against the World No. 2.

“I felt like the level was very high,” Sinner said. “Many great rallies, many great chances for both. I had my chances in the second set and couldn’t use them but he had his chances and it was quite an even match.”

In the deciding set, history and resilience tilted the balance back in Sinner’s favour. Despite landing just 52% of his first serves, the reigning Wimbledon champion unleased some relentless baseline aggression and struck 30 out of 33 forehands cleanly.

The surge proved decisive and left De Minaur — who has more hard-court wins than any other player this season — once again searching for answers against a rival he has yet to overcome.

“In the third set I tried to raise my level. I broke him very early, which gave me confidence to then serve better. I am very happy about today. It was a different match than usual against him, it was a very even match,” said Sinner.

The Italian has now reached finals in seven of the eight events he has played this year, collecting major titles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon and only falling short at the US Open, where he lost to arch-rival Carlos Alcaraz. That defeat cost Sinner the World No. 1 tag, but that battle continues to thrive on.