Jannik Sinner v Learner Tien live: China Open final latest score and updates after Carlos Alcaraz shock

Jannik Sinner underlined his dominance on hardcourts in the Asian swing of tournaments by outlasting Australian third seed Alex de Minaur 6-3 4-6 6-2.

Sinner made a typically fast start in his bid to secure an 11th straight victory over De Minaur, breaking the world number eight to love for a 4-2 lead, but he had to battle hard in the next game to hold serve.

The 2023 China Open champion had no trouble wrapping up the first set from there but ran into trouble early in the next, appearing to struggle physically at times, before tight holds helped him level at 3-3 and 4-4.

“I have one night to recover. I’m going to be fine,” Sinner said. “In the finals you have even more adrenaline and more will to play as best as you can. I’m looking forward to it, finals are very special.

“It’s another final for me this season. It’s a great result again.”

A cramping Daniil Medvedev accused umpires of “trying to intimidate” him as he retired from his China Open semi-final against Learner Tien when the score was 5-7, 7-5, 4-0 in the final set.

After blowing a second-set lead, Medvedev could barely walk as he took to the decider in Beijing but refused to retire even as he struggled to return any ball that was out of his reach.

The Russian was given a warning for “lack of effort” as Tien aced Medvedev with a routine serve down the middle of the court, with the 29-year-old staring towards the umpire before calling the supervisor.

Learner Tien advanced to his first ATP Tour final after former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev retired from their semi-final with what looked like cramp while trailing 7-5 5-7 0-4.

“I think (Medvedev) was cramping, I’ve been there and it’s not fun. All the best to him,” Tien said. “It’s not how you want to come through a match but I’m happy to be in the final.

“Excited to play Sinner. I think any time you have a chance to play one of the top guys I think it’s a great experience and I’m really looking forward to it.”

Tien may be the huge underdog in the final but the American has a 7-5 record against top-20 players so far in his career, including two wins over Daniil Medvedev and victories against Alexander Zverev, Ben Shelton, Lorenzo Musetti and Andrey Rublev. He is also the youngest China Open finalist since Rafael Nadal.

Jannik Sinner is a bit of a different story, though.

The China Open final will get underway at 7am UK time in Beijing.

This will be the first career meeting between Jannik Sinner and Learner Tien, the World No 52 and 19-year-old American.

Jannik Sinner bids to win his first title outside of the grand slams this season as the World No 2 faces Learner Tien in the China Open final in Beijing.

Sinner defended his Australian Open title and defeated rival Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon but is otherwise without a title on the ATP Tour this season, in a year in which the Italian served a three-month doping ban.

Sinner now has the chance to gain some ground on his young rival Alcaraz in the race for the year-end No 1 after the Spaniard withdraw from the Shanghai Masters just hours after winning the Japan Open title.