Jannik Sinner Advances To The Semifinals Of Rotterdam After Milos Raonic Withdraws Due To Injury

Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner (photo: Doc. intermediate)

JAKARTA - Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner reached the semifinals of Rotterdam unexpectedly after his opponent, Milos Raonic, was forced to withdraw to 1-1 in the second set of their last eight matches. The top seed Sinner won the first set 7-6(7/4) before the 33-year-old Canadian stopped the match due to injury, Friday 16 February.

Sinner will face Netherlands Tallon Griekspoor in the semifinals after Griekspoor beat Finnish tennis player Emil Ruusuvuori 7-5, 7-6(7/4).

"I hope he recovers quickly. I played and I didn't realize he was going to step down but he got to know his body very well and knew his limits, so, of course, this was the right choice for him," said Sinner.

Raonic, who got two sets of points in the opening set, was forced to step down after suffering another injury, dropping him to 309 in the world.

Meanwhile, world number 13 Grigor Dimitrov advanced to the semifinals after defeating Kazakh tennis player Alexander Shevchenko 7-6(7/2), 3-6, 6-4. Dimitrov will face fifth-seeded Australian, Alex De Minaur, who is a surprise second-seeded Andrey Rublev 7-6(7/5), 4-6, 6-3.

Dimitrov admits it was difficult to read Shevchenko's serve, while De Minaur hopes to avenge last year's loss on his 25th birthday. De Minaur hopes Dimitrov will be "a little better at him" in a nant match