By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, October 23, 2025
Photo: Erste Bank Open Facebook
The first meeting between friends without Flavio Cobolli match Jannik the Sinner shot after shot in the second set.
Four points in the tie, Sinner unleashed a rocket running in front of the line that left his compatriot sprawled on the blue court.
Sinner scored that second-set knockdown to beat Cobolli 6-2, 7-6(4) and into his 40th career quarter-final on the hard court in Vienna today.
The top-seeded Sinner extended his indoor winning streak to 18 matches by recording his seventh consecutive victory in Vienna.
The 2023 Vienna champions improved to 17-0 against compatriots Italy by setting up a rematch against Alexander Bublik.
You feel good in the last 8 😀@janniksin beats Cobolli 6-2 7-6 to seal his place in the quarter-finals in Vienna!#ErsteBankHapur pic.twitter.com/sFgLynv5Yv
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 23, 2025
Earlier, Bublik hit 11 aces and saved all six break points he faced on serve Francisco Cerundolo 6-4, 6-2 in 65 minutes.
Last June, Bublik upset Sinner 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 on the grass in Halle en route to the Halle Championship. Carlos Alcaraz and Bublik are the only ones to beat Sinner in completed games this season. Tallon Griekspoor led the Italian in Shanghai this month when Sinner retired. Sinner is 5-2 lifetime against Bublik, including a 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 annihilation at the US Open last month.
Facing Cobolli for the first time, Sinner made a strong start today.
On the strength of his second consecutive stoppage, Sinner extended his lead to 4-1 after 28 minutes of play.
On his fourth set point, Sinner pulled off a spread arm to close out the 45-minute opening set. Sinner hit 17 of 25 points on serve and did not face a break point in the opening set.
Credit Cobolli for going toe-to-toe with the world number 2 during the second set.
Snap, Crackle & POP âš¡@janniksin with a crosscourt ripper!#ErsteBankHapur pic.twitter.com/WKZtepKHs3
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 23, 2025
Staring at triple break point in the 11th game, Cobolli hit back-to-back forehand winners down the line and then hit his third ace to close out a hard-fought 6-5.
Cobolli opened the ball with an ace before Sinner cut it as the forehand hit the line for the mini-break and a 3-1 lead.
When Cobolli double-faulted, Sinner went up 5-3 and then capped off a cracking rally on the crossbar by drilling a backhand diagonal winner for 6-4.
On match point, Sinner closed out a body serve to seal an hour and 47 minute victory to improve to 45-6 on the season.
It was Italian day today in Vienna with five Italians in action.
Starting today’s game, Matteo Berrettini blasted 16 aces and saved four of five break points out of the duel Cameron Norrie 7-6 (6), 6-7 (9) 6-4 in a marathon match of three hours and 16 minutes.
World No. 59 Berrettini beat Norrie for the third time in as many meetings to reach his 37th tournament-level quarter-final, including his fourth in Vienna.
Former Wimbledon finalist Berrettini will face third seed Alex de Minaur for a semi-final place.
US Open quarterfinalist de Minaur beat Austrian Filip Misolic 6-4, 6-4. Berrettini has beaten de Minaur in three of their previous four meetings, including a 6-3, 7-6 (7) victory in the round of 16 in Miami in March.
In a rematch of Sunday’s final in Almaty, Corentin Moutet earned a measure of revenge by beating Daniil Medvedev 7-6(3), 6-4 to join Carlos Alcaraz as the only Top 20 winners on clay, grass, hard court and indoor surfaces this season.
The French left-hander pulled out all the stops, confusing Medvedev with forehands and winning an underarm serve match.
2022 Vienna champion Medvedev came back to break back on serve at 4-5 in the second set. Moutet then sent Medvedev packing on a crazy shot-making screen.
First Moutet threw a hand at the top of the tape that dragged for love-30, then the Frenchman fired a hand pass down the line for triple match point. It ended with a Medvedev blunder as the lanky Russian, apparently still seething over chair umpire Fergus Murphy’s time violation warning in the tie, refused to shake the veteran chair umpire’s hand in the post-match.
World number 36 Moutet will meet either fourth seed Lorenzo Musetti or Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the quarter-finals.
Vienna Champion 2021 Alexander Zverev HEAD Matteo Arnaldi 6-4, 6-4 power in his fifth quarter-final in Vienna in as many appearances.
It is Zverev’s 50th win of the season – the sixth time he has won 50 matches in a season – as he joins Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz and Alex de Minaur as the fourth man to record 50 wins in 2025.
Runner-up Zverev will play Tallon Griekspoor for a semi-final place. Zverev is 8-2 lifetime against 28th-ranked Griekspoor.
