Jannik Sinner advanced to the Madrid Masters semifinals at the Caja Magica on Monday night, defeating Russian Pavel Kotov 6-2, 7-5, despite some hip soreness.
Sinner fell behind 5-3 in the second set but rallied to win and set up a matchup with Italian Flavio Cobolli or Russian Karen Khachanov.
At the Madrid Open, Kotov and Sinner engaged in a thrilling contest that had fans on the edge of their seats. Still, it was a casual incident that eventually cost Kotov a vital point.
Kotov’s preferred tactic in professional tennis is the underarm serve, a seldom-seen strategy. The crowd held its breath as he approached the baseline.
Unfortunately, that didn’t work out for Kotov. Sinner was prepared and easily tracked down the underarm serve. The Italian player handled every additional challenge that was thrown at him, even Kotov’s unusual serve in the match’s last game.
The underarm serve may be a very effective surprise move, but it needs to be executed and timed perfectly. Kotov’s approach in this instance was unsuccessful, and Sinner took advantage of the situation. This match will live on in the memory of tennis fans as evidence of the value of strategy and flexibility on the court.
A bold play at a crucial time 😶#MMOpen pic.twitter.com/iFnTSPLvTJ
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 29, 2024
Pavel Kotov in 2024
Ranked world no.72, Pavel played his last match on the 29th of April when he was defeated by world no.2 Jannik Sinner 6-2 7-5 in the 3rd round in Madrid (draw).
During this season the Russian has achieved a compiled 9-9 match record. Pavel Kotov’s most significant result of this season was getting to the semifinal in Marrakech.
Kotov has scheduled to compete next in Bordeaux Challenger (Bordeaux Challenger). He will start from the main draw that will commence on the 1st of January.
Sinner in Madrid, ranking, and results in 2024
WWWWWWWWWW At the moment ranked no.2 (career-high), Sinner owns a composed 27-2 match record in 2024. The Italian is currently having a run in Madrid where he bested the world no.52 Lorenzo Sonego 6-0 6-3 and the world no.72 Pavel Kotov 6-2 7-5.
Jannik Sinner will take on the world no.17 Karen Khachanov in the 4th round on Tuesday at 6:30 pm on ARANTXA SANCHEZ STADIUM. Their actual record is 3-1 for Sinner.
Sinner has won 3 titles in 2024 at the Australian Open, Rotterdam and Miami.
Sinner won 14 titles in his career: 6 on hard courts, 1 on clay courts and 7 on indoor courts. (See the list of his titles)
Sinner is scheduled to compete next in Rome (Internazionali BNL d’Italia). He will start from the main draw that will commence on the 8th of May.
Pavel Kotov and Jannik Sinner fought against each other just once. The head to head is 1-0 for Sinner. When they played, Jannik Sinner won 6-2 7-5 in the 3rd round in Madrid (Mutua Madrid Open) on the 29th of April 2024.
In the following video you can watch the key moments of their match.
