Jannik Sinner is one round further. © APA/afp / FILIPPO MONTEFORTE

Painstaking victory in Rome: Sinner falters but doesn't fall

Jannik Sinner had a hard time against a rebellious opponent in the third round of the Masters tournament in Rome. In the end, even on a difficult day, he showed his fighting spirit and made it to the round of 16.

14 May 2023

From: det

Jannik Sinner is an avowed Milan fan. But the Puster native would probably never have imagined that at some point in his tennis career a player named Shevchenko would get him into such trouble. The 22-year-old Russian Alexander Shevchenko - namesake of Milan's storm legend Andriy Shevchenko - is "only" number 93 in the world, but he demanded everything from Sinner on Sunday evening. In the end, the favorite from South Tyrol (ATP 8) prevailed 6:3, 6:7 (4), 6:2 and is in the round of 31, where the Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo, number XNUMX in the world, is waiting.

One thing in advance: Sinner didn't have his best day on Sunday evening. After his opening gala against Thanasi Kokkinakis, the sixth player had problems against the “lucky loser” Shevchenko, especially in the second set. South Tyrol's athlete of the year made an unusually large number of mistakes and had difficulty finding his rhythm. So the opponent, who is currently experiencing the best phase of his young career, even sensed a sensation, but in the decisive moments Sinner's fighting heart (and his class) was too big. What counts in the end is the result and that takes him to the round of 16.

The worm is in the second sentence

Sinner didn't start the match well and had to give up serve in the second game. But that really spurred the player from Sexten on, because he immediately got the break back and bit his way into the game. He took serve from the Russian on the other side of the court two more times and took the set 6:3. So far, so good – and so normal, one would think. But in the second section, Sinner suddenly got the bug. He had to give up his serve immediately and kept making mistakes. This spurred Shevchenko on, who now sensed his chance: Something could happen here.

Alexander Shevchenko proved to be a tough nut to crack. © ANSA / ETTORE FERRARI

While the lively Russian now played strongly and acted very confidently in his own service, Italy's great tennis hope found it difficult to find the rhythm, appeared unsure at times and kept looking questioningly in the direction of his box. However, Sinner managed the break to 5:5 and then took the lead for the first time (6:5). But even now Shevchenko had an answer ready, saved herself in the tie break and actually took the set there - also because of two careless Sinner errors.

Sinner converts the match point and doesn't notice it

In the third period, both players initially completed their service before Sinner got the break in the fifth game. Curious: After an instruction from the trainer box, everything suddenly went like clockwork. Sinner pulled away and scored his first match point after 2.33:XNUMX hours - even if he didn't realize it himself. The Pusterer wanted to get ready to serve again before he realized that he had already won the match.