MADRID, April 29 (Reuters) - World number one Jannik Sinner held off 19-year-old wildcard Rafael Jodar to win 6-2 7-6(0) in the Madrid Open quarter-finals on Wednesday, becoming the sixth player to reach the semi-finals of all nine ATP 1000 Masters tournaments.
Sinner saved five break points in the second set and won 11 points in a row to secure victory over the Spaniard.
"He pushed me to the limit, he's an incredible player... I'm incredibly happy, it's been a very high quality match," Sinner said in his post-match interview.
The 24-year-old Italian produced a disciplined performance in the first set, breaking the local favourite twice to take a 5-2 lead, before sealing the set with a fierce backhand.
Jodar, who won his first tour title in Morocco this month, threatened to pull 4-2 ahead in the second set, but Sinner saved two break points to stay level at 3-3.
A double fault from the Italian put Jodar on the verge of another break, but Sinner saved three break points with a strong crosscourt forehand and two backhand winners that brushed the sideline.
Sinner went 40-15 up in the next game but Jodar saved three break points before taking it.
Sinner, chasing his second claycourt title this season after winning the Monte-Carlo Masters, dominated the tiebreak and sealed victory with a forehand that Jodar could not reach.
He will next face Arthur Fils, who beat Jiri Lehecka 6-3 6-4 later in the day, extending his winning streak to nine matches. The 21st seed became the first Frenchman to reach the semi-finals in Madrid since 2009, avenging his recent Miami Open loss to Lehecka with a dominant, 74-minute performance in which he did not face a single break point.
Like Sinner, Fils remains undefeated on clay this season, building on his triumph at the Barcelona Open earlier this month.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Janina Nuno Rios, editing by Ed Osmond and Clare Fallon)
