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Jannik Sinner was left confused after a fan rushed onto the Six Kings Slam court to request his jacket before a security guard intervened.
The world No. 2 stormed to a 6-2 6-3 opening victory against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Saudi exhibition tournament, setting up a semi-final showdown against Novak Djokovic, while Carlos Alcaraz will take on Taylor Fritz after the American’s 59-minute beating of Alexander Zverev, who will still pocket $1.5m (£1.1m).
But as the Italian left the court in Saudi Arabia, a fan approached him, pointing at his Nike jacket in an apparent request to claim it as a souvenir.
Sinner appeared confused and reluctant to offer his top as a gift, though, and a security guard was then seen dragging the supporter away before the tennis star picked up his bag and walked off the court.
It is not the first strange incident between Sinner and a fan on court this season, after one supporter attempted to open his bag while he posed for pictures following his US Open round of 16 victory over Alexander Bublik.
Sinner was also left unsettled by the “unusual” court in what was his first match since retiring from the Shanghai Open earlier this month.
He questioned the hard court surface at the ANB Arena, with extremely high and wide bounces on some serves, while the balls remained flat and slow during other rallies.
“It’s a very unusual indoor court,” Sinner said. “It is a very interesting situation we have to deal with here on the court because it’s quite bouncy, with new balls it’s quite fast and it slows down with with used balls.”
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Jannik Sinner of Italy plays a forehand against Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in their quarterfinal (Getty Images)
Sinner also outlined his approach to the exhibition match, stating his intent to play aggressively, particularly when facing the Greek star’s serve.
“We played already many times, of course,” Sinner said. “By the time we become better players and we know each other’s game a little bit more, so I knew a little bit also tactically how to prepare for the match. I just tried to stay quite aggressive, especially on the return games. I felt like I was serving very well in the important moments.”
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Jannik Sinner of Italy shakes hands at the net after his straight sets victory against Stefanos Tsitsipas (Getty Images)
Sinner holds a 6-4 head-to-head record against Djokovic, with six consecutive wins over the 24-time grand slam champion, if you include their meeting in last year’s Six King semi-finals.
Djokovic will bid for revenge after defeat in both the French Open and Wimbledon semi-finals, with Sinner excited for another meeting.
“It’s a huge honour to play again, against a legend like Novak,” Sinner said. “It’s great to have him still here playing in the highest level of our sport.
“He’s a great role model. He’s still hungry to win big titles and and that’s why he still keeps playing. Hopefully it’s going to be interesting tomorrow.”