Sinner unrecognizable, Bublik smiles in Halle

From the joy of his 'singing' debut with Andrea Bocelli , in the song 'Polvere e gloria', to the sadness of his defeat in the round of 16 of the Terra Wortmann Open (ATP 500 with a prize pool of 2.5 million euros): for Jannik Sinner it was a day of great emotions, which ended in a way that was certainly unexpected for the champion from Sesto Pusteria. On the grass of the Owl Arena in Halle , Germany, the world number 1 and reigning champion of the tournament (so many ranking points will start for Jannik) had to surrender to Alexander Bublik , number 45 in the ATP ranking, who however won in Halle in 2023 and is in great shape. Bublik won 3-6 6-3 6-4 , now the Kazakh will have to deal with Tomas Machac , who beat Fabian Marozsan 6-2 6-3. A really bad day for Sinner, with too many mistakes and even a few moments of discouragement with his head hidden under the towel.

Cobolli remains in the running, and will face Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals, who was able to recover after a bad start against Lorenzo Sonego . The Piedmontese tennis player fought on equal terms but ultimately surrendered to the German. Sonego, number 46 in the world, lost to the number 3 in the ATP ranking and second seed, with a score of 3-6 6-4 7-6 (2). In the quarterfinals, tomorrow, Zverev will challenge Flavio Cobolli , who today won the tie-break in the third set against the Canadian Denis Shapovalov.

Italy can still celebrate a final in the German tournament. Second consecutive final for Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori, second in the seeding and defending champions. In the semifinals they left four games to the Canadians Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov defeated 6-2 6-2 in just 47 minutes. In Berlin instead Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini punched the pass to the semifinals by beating in a comeback by 5-7 6-1 10-6, in an hour and 21 minutes of match, the Americans Ashlyn Krueger and Jessica Pegula, signing the 13th consecutive victory.