Sinner runs out of steam - and he still wins

Jannik Sinner had over three hours of intense, exhausting tennis after his semi-final success against Karen Khachanov. The fact that this game cost a lot of grain became clear in the final against 29-year-old Travaglia. The final liveliness was missing, the serves came slower than usual, which meant that the rallies dragged on. All of this contributed to Sinner struggling and giving his technically inferior opponent a chance, which Travaglia did not take advantage of. Despite the major physical problems, Sinner won 7:6 and 6:4.

The game in Melbourne started an hour and a half late due to a women's match that dragged on and with many errors on both sides. Both Sinner and Travaglia generously distributed gifts - especially in their own service games. The result was a break each time. In the middle of the first set, the player from Sexten found the rhythm of the game better, but the fatigue remained. The South Tyrolean repeatedly leaned forward after longer rallies. When serving, he sometimes slowed down completely. Nonetheless, Sinner fought bravely, standing up to his fresher opponent and signaling that he had come to win his second ATP title. Tiebreak is Sinner's domain Despite the weaker serve, Sinner saved himself in the tiebreak, his new specialty. Because in 2021 he played four “overtimes” – and won all of them. The 19-year-old built on this impressive record thanks to solid groundstrokes – 7:6.

At the end of the first set, Travaglia also began to grab his thigh. Now the Italian tried to shorten the rallies. He managed to do this, but only by making a ton of unforced errors. For his part, Sinner limited himself to keeping the ball in play. The winning tactic given his opponent's weaknesses. At some point the South Tyrolean's precarious physical condition overwhelmed him. And yet he kept up. On the one hand, this had to do with his great class, but on the other hand, it also had to do with the admittedly contemplative level of his counterpart.

After 2 breaks apiece and several defended breakballs from the South Tyrolean, Sinner found a break opportunity out of nowhere when the score was 4:4. And Sinner wouldn't be Sinner if he didn't use them immediately. Afterwards, “serving out” was just a formality. Symbolic of his performance, Travaglia ended the match with an avoidable error into the net.

Thanks to the tournament success, Sinner climbed to 32nd place in the world rankings and would therefore be seeded at the next Grand Slam, the French Open in Paris. First of all, his focus is on tomorrow's game against Denis Shapovalov. Given his current physical condition, it is more than questionable whether he can even compete in the first round of the Australian Open.

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Sinner runs out of steam - and he still wins

What a feat of will, what a fighting heart! A dead tired Jannik Sinner defeated Stefano Travaglia at the Great Ocean Road Open on Sunday morning (CET) and won his second title on the ATP tour.

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