Relief was written all over Jannik Sinner's face after the match. © ANSA / ALEX PLAVEVSKI

Etcheverry scratches, but only Sinner bites

Jannik Sinner is in the round of 1 of the Beijing Masters tournament. The South Tyrolean, number 3 in the world, defeated the Argentinian Tomas Etcheverry on Sunday morning (CEST) after a tough fight in 2 sets with 1:XNUMX.

06 October 2024

From: cst

Sinner and Etcheverry are not a long-running match on the ATP tour. The South American, who is ranked 37th in the world, has only met Sinner once so far. In contrast to the Australian Open match, the encounter in Shanghai was a tricky affair for Sinner. Etcheverry proved to be a very stubborn opponent, but in the end had to bow to the class of the Pusterer. Sinner won the match after 2 hours and 41 minutes with 6:7 (3:7), 6:4, 6:2. The fact that the match could even take place in rainy Shanghai was because Sinner was able to play on the center court (it has a roof).

Etcheverry started strongly, quickly putting Sinner under pressure with good serves and aggressive play. Because the Argentinian hardly made any mistakes (and Sinner seemed a little surprised), the first set became a thriller. Sinner tried to steer the momentum in his favor, but the 1-meter giant from La Plata always had an answer ready. In the end, Etcheverry secured the opening set in a thrilling tie-break.

Sinner has the better physique

While Sinner was clearly trying to calm the game down in the second set, Etcheverry seemed to be under the weather. The tie-break win had obviously cost him a lot of energy and the South American was running out of steam. Above all, however, the level of Etcheverry's serve dropped. Sinner used this to his advantage and equalized. Set number 2 was then one-sided.

Strong, but not strong enough: Tomas Etcheverry. © APA/afp / HECTOR RETAMAL

Etcheverry seemed physically and mentally broken, his resistance weakening with every minute. When the 25-year-old conceded a break with Sinner leading 4:2, the match was over. Sinner played the game home easily and converted the first match point to win.

In the round of 1000 of the ATP XNUMX tournament, Sinner will now face Ben Shelton (USA) or Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP). The match between the two will take place on Monday (local time in China).