Jannik Sinner beat home favorite Bu Yunchaokete 6-3 7-6(3) to set up a tantalizing final against second seed Carlos Alcaraz at the China Open. The Italian knocked out Alcaraz at the semi-final stage last year but will now face him with his title defense at the ATP 500 event on the line, after a tough test against Bu. Alcaraz beat Daniil Medvedev in straight sets in the day session on Tuesday.
Top seed and defending champion Jannik Sinner marched into the China Open final with a straight-sets win over Chinese wildcard Bu Yunchaokete.
Sinner was not at his best and faced not just a spirited opponent playing excellent tennis, but also an understandably partisan crowd on the Beijing show court.
But the world No. 1 stepped up a gear when he needed to and extended his winning streak to 15 matches in a row with a 6-3 7-6(3) victory.
Bu, ranked 96th in the world, is the first Chinese man to reach the last four in Beijing and has enjoyed a brilliant week in front of home crowds.
The surprise package at this stage in the tournament, he sent Wimbledon semi-finalist Lorenzo Musetti packing in the last 16 before knocking out fourth seed and world No. 6 Andrey Rublev in his quarter-final.
He went toe-to-toe with the defending champion in the baseline rallies Sinner normally dominates, and delighted the crowd with an array of net volleys and drop shots, but could not find the quality needed to pull off another huge upset.
"Today was a very tough match because I didn't know him at all, so I didn't know exactly what to expect," Sinner said after his win.
"I tried to get into the rhythm, I felt like in the first set I was playing some good tennis, then in the second set I dropped a little bit of intensity, then he raised his level.
"I had some chances in the second set, like yesterday [against Jiri Lehecka] to break a bit earlier, I couldn't use them, so I tried to stay there mentally somehow.
"A set can go very fast away [from you] so I'm happy to be back in the finals."
Sinner piled the pressure on early with a hold to love and Bu looked a little nervous, struggling to land his first serve, but rapidly grew into the match with the backing of the 13,000-seater Diamond Court.
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