Zverev sets up rematch with Sinner in Vienna final
Alexander Zverev and Jannik Sinner will meet in Sunday's Vienna Open final for the first time since they battled it out for the Australian Open title in January.
Zverev lost the Melbourne final in straight sets but is eager to test himself once more against the world number two after setting up the rematch with a 6-4 7-5 victory over Lorenzo Musetti in Saturday's second semi-final.
Top seed Sinner had earlier reached his eighth ATP final of the season with a 6-3 6-4 victory over Alex de Minaur.
"I am looking forward to playing one of the two best players in the world to see where my level really is," said second seed Zverev, who has won four of their previous seven meetings, although his last victory over the Italian was two years ago.
The 28-year-old German recorded his 300th victory on hard courts with an accomplished performance against Musetti.
He played the key points well and made no mistake when serving out for the match after breaking the Italian fourth seed in the 11th game of the second set.
Since losing to Sinner at the Australian Open, Zverev has gone on to reach just two more finals, winning on clay in Munich in April and losing on the grass in Stuttgart in June.
That is in stark contrast to Sinner's record, with the Italian world number two becoming the first man since Novak Djokovic in 2015-16 to appear in eight finals in successive seasons.
Sinner extended his winning streak on indoor hard courts to 20 matches and took his unbeaten record to 12 wins against Australian third seed De Minaur as he claimed a fourth consecutive straight-set victory at the ATP 500 tournament.
He was broken twice – once in each set – but battled his way through what he described as a "physical" encounter.
"I am happy how I handled it," said the 2023 Vienna Open champion, who is aiming to secure a fourth title of the season after wins at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and China Open.
"I was a break up in the second and he broke me back. I tried to stay strong mentally so I am very happy about today's performance and obviously to be in another final."
Elsewhere, 19-year-old Brazilian Joao Fonseca reached the first ATP 500 final of his career with a 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 victory over unseeded Spanish player Jaume Munar at the Swiss Indoors in Basel.
He will play another Spaniard – Alejandro Davidovich Fokina – in the final after the eighth seed's opponent Frenchman Ugo Humbert retired while trailing 7-6 (7-4) 3-1 in their semi-final.
