Jannik Sinner confirms top 10 debut with Vienna win over Casper Ruud

Jannik Sinner is guaranteed to break into the top 10 of the ATP rankings for the first time now that he has reached the semifinals of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. Sinner has 3,395 ranking points at the moment, which means he will leapfrog past Dominic Thiem and Hubert Hurkacz to No. 9 when the official rankings are released on Monday.

The young Italian scored a 7-5, 6-1 win over Norway's Casper Ruud on Friday to extend his indoor winning streak to 11 matches, all of those coming in straight sets. He will meet Frances Tiafoe in the semifinals on Saturday, after the American beat Diego Schwartzman 6-4, 7-6 in his quarterfinal.

Jannik Sinner's quarterfinal win is also a massive boost to his chances of qualifying for the season-ending ATP Finals for the first time in his career. By reaching the semifinals, Sinner is up to eighth position in the Race to Turin, just behind Ruud.

If the 20-year-old reaches the final in Vienna, he will move past Ruud to seventh position in the race.

Speaking after his win, Jannik Sinner told the press he was happy with his performance on Friday but that the race for Turin would boil down to the Paris Masters.

"Of course I'm happy with the top 10," Sinner said. "I knew all the implications behind this match before taking the court. There is a lot of pressure, but the most important thing is the performance and today it was good. I'm managing everything fine at the moment. But in another sense, everything is played out in Paris, as always."

(Quotes translated using Google Translate)

Jannik Sinner's meteoric rise over the last couple of years

Jannik Sinner at the 2021 US Open

Jannik Sinner's ascent to the world's top 10 next week is the result of an explosive couple of seasons for the young Italian.

Sinner was unranked at the start of 2018 but he made his top 100 debut the following year. He ended 2020 as the highest-ranked teenager in the world, and earlier this year became the youngest Italian to break into the top 15.

Sinner picked up his first career title in Sofia last year and has added four more in 2021 so far - Melbourne 1, Washington, Antwerp and Sofia. That has made him the youngest five-time ATP Tour champion since the 19-year-old Novak Djokovic did the same in 2007.

Sinner's resume boasts several other impressive records too. By winning Washington this year, he became the first teenager to win a 500 title since the ATP introduced the category in 2009. Last year he also became the first player since Rafael Nadal in 2005 to reach the Roland Garros quarterfinals on debut.