Qualifying in the semifinals of a prestigious tournament like Indian Wells and taking revenge against the one who in 2021, in the only match played so far between the two, ousted him in the round of 16 of the Californian tennis appointment.
Jannik Sinner can achieve this double objective on Thursday but must beat a difficult opponent: Taylor Fritz, current number 5 in the world rankings and holder of the title in Indian Wells. The conditions are there: the blue is demonstrating an excellent state of physical shape and a good mental stability thanks to which he has climbed up to 13th place in the ATP ranking.
Indeed, with the victory in the round of 16 in two sets over the never tame Stan Wawrinka, he will climb at least one more position in the ranking. The score of the match (6-1, 6-4) with the 37-year-old Swiss, however, deceives: Sinner had to bring out his best tennis to get the better of his opponent, currently number 100 Atp but with great experience and even always former number 3 in the world. A game played on the nerves that the South Tyrolean brought home with a trade. Tennis is primarily a sport of nerds. Jannik may have a clear mind also in view of the next match: he is, in fact, the first Italian to hit the quarterfinals of Indian Wellels, where in the previous three editions he had stopped in the round of 16. On his way he finds the 25-year-old American Taylor Fritz who, in turn, got rid, not without difficulty, in two sets (6-4, 6-3) of the Hungarian Marton Fucsovics (number 84 Atp). F ritz remains the favourite: the American, among other things, grew up tennis right on the courts of Indian Wells. Sinner has, thus far, faced a top 5 player 18 times, recording two wins and 16 losses. However, he has a good psycho-physical state on his side: 4 quarterfinals in his last six tournaments and six sets won without losing any in California.
With the absence of Djokovic and Nadal, the favorite of the tournament is Medvedev but the Russian must pay attention to the exuberance of the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina, number 28 Atp, who eliminated the Chilean Cristian Garin. A separate discussion deserves Cameron Norrie, star of an excellent start to the year, who will challenge Frances Tiafoe to confirm the good things done so far. In the last quarter Carlos Alcaraz will face the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime. And the Murcian talent, if Sinner wins his fourth, could be the blue's opponent in the semifinals.
