bad news for Yannick Sinner! South Tyrol withdrew from the quarter-finals of the ATP 500 in Halle due to a muscle problem, a contracture in his left thigh. His Kazakh opponent Alexander Bublik, reaches the semi-finals after winning the first set 7-5. Simone Vagnozzi’s pupil’s physical problem, resulting from her recovery from a drop, does not appear to be serious. After undergoing treatment from a physiotherapist in-between sets one and two and suffering a blackout upon returning to the field, Sinner chose the path of retirement as a precaution. The third Grand Slam date of the season is now very close: Wimbledon is due to start on Monday 3 July and all of Italy’s top seed will inevitably focus on London where they will have to defend their quarter-finals based in 2022.

Thus comes Bublik’s first victory over blue at the fourth attempt (a week earlier he had lost in the second round of the ATP 250 in S-Hertogenbosch): he will challenge the winner from Zverev-Jarry. Overall, the Kazakh looked stronger than his opponent in 52 minutes of play, winning the first set with a surgical break in the 12th game and capitalizing on Sinner’s numerous forehand mistakes. In the second set, just before South Tyrol’s retirement, Bublik put another break at 2-0. He is also applauded for the attitude he has shown towards Sinner: after shaking hands with the chair umpire, the world’s 48th man escorts Jannik to the locker room tunnel, embracing him.