Sinner reaches China Open men's final against Tien. Gauff goes to women's quarters

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Jannik Sinner of Italy returns a forehand shot to Alex De Minaur of Australia during the men's singles semifinal match for the China Open tennis tournament, in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

Coco Gauff of the United States reacts after scoring a point against Belinda Bencic of Switzerland during a women's singles match of the China Open tennis tournament, in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.) — Jannik Sinner of Italy returns a forehand shot to Alex De Minaur of Australia during the men's singles semifinal match for the China Open tennis tournament, in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

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1:48 AM on Tuesday, September 30

The Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — Top-seeded Jannik Sinner won his 11th straight career match against Alex de Minaur and advanced to the final of the China Open, where he will play United States teenager Learner Tien on Wednesday.

Sinner's 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 victory earned him a ninth straight final at hard-court tournaments.

The No. 2-ranked Sinner dropped a set to No. 8 De Minaur for just the second time in his career before retaking control with a series of forceful forehands.

“I felt like the level was very high,” Sinner said. “Many great rallies, many great chances for both."

Tien, the 19-year-old Californian ranked No. 52, will play in his first tour final after Daniil Medvedev retired injured when the score was 5-7, 7-5, 4-0.

Medvedev led 3-0 and 5-3 in the second set then had limited mobility when seemingly affected by muscle cramps. The Russian was warned by the umpire for not giving his best effort.

The ATP event in Beijing runs concurrently with the WTA event and Coco Gauff advanced to the quarterfinals on Tuesday.

Gauff broke Belinda Bencic's serve to open the deciding set and went on to beat the Swiss player 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2.

The second-seeded Gauff improved her career record against 15th-seeded Bencic to 4-2.

Three of those matches have come this year, including Gauff's win at the Australian Open in January. But Bencic won at Abu Dhabi, and the 2021 Tokyo Olympics gold medalist made the Indian Wells quarterfinals and advanced to the Wimbledon semis.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis