Sinner to play Alcaraz in final

Top-ranked Jannik Sinner will play rival Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the China Open after recording a 6-3 7-6(3) victory against home favourite Bu Yunchaokete in the semifinals.

Sinner and Alcaraz accounted for all four Grand Slam titles this year between them. Alcaraz leads the head-to-head series 5-4 — including wins at both their meetings this year — but Sinner doesn’t believe that recent history will have a bearing on Wednesday’s final.

“It’s going to be a tough match,” Sinner said. “We know each other very well now, but every match is different, so the situation on the court is also a bit different than it was the last two matches. But let’s see.”

The 23-year-old Italian is the defending champion and hasn’t appeared distracted by the World Anti-Doping Agency announcing Saturday it was seeking a ban of one to two years for the US Open champion, who tested positive twice for an anabolic steroid in March.

Chinese wild card Yunchaokete, ranked 96th, held his own in the heavy baseline exchanges to put pressure on Sinner’s service games, but couldn’t take any of his three breakpoint chances in the first set.

Sinner’s experience proved crucial during the pivotal moments, especially in the second-set tiebreaker, where he surged to a 6-1 lead.

Earlier, third-ranked Alcaraz’s athleticism was again on show as he advanced to the final with a 7-5 6-3 victory over Daniil Medvedev.