Sinner has to give way to King Nadal

Sinner and Nadal offered a balanced, high-class fight over two hours at the Master 1000 tournament in the Foro Italico. The world number three from Mallorca had the better end: He won 2:7, 5:6 and moved into the round of 4. The top talent from Sexten (ATP 18) offered a strong, courageous performance and was ahead with a break in both sets, but was coldly punished for a few careless mistakes by the best clay court player of all time.

The evening game at the “Centrale” started on a slow note, as both opponents initially had difficulty adapting their game to the damp and slow surface. So it happened that Sinner and Nadal only managed one of their first three service games. When the score was 3:3, the tide suddenly turned: Nadal noticeably tightened up and now offered his best tennis, Sinner was unimpressed and bravely held on. After initially feeling things out, both of them kept looking for the element of surprise and varied their playing immensely. The South Tyrolean managed to fend off a total of 6 set points, but when the score was 5:6 on his own serve he had to let his opponent go and give up the first set. Sinner gives up the 4-2 lead In the second round the balance of power temporarily changed. Nadal only sporadically managed to really build up pressure. Sinner now sensed his chance, forced the big favorite onto the defensive with his aggressive play and repeatedly landed impressive winners. His backhand game in particular was simply outstanding in this phase. Sinner made it 2:1 with a break and later moved ahead to 3:1 and 4:2.

Rafael Nadal had to do everything he could to keep Sinner at bay. © ANSA / ETTORE FERRARI

But the youngster couldn't maintain his lead. As the second set continued, his unforced errors increased - which Nadal took advantage of ice coldly and initially made it 4:4 with a break before landing the score at 5:4 with his own service. Nadal was now unstoppable and earned the first 3 match points with his feared powerful game. Sinner was able to fend off this, but he was powerless in the fourth, a crashing longliner from Nadal. The clay court king advances to the next round after winning 4:6 in the second set. He can continue to dream of his 4th title in Rome.

For Sinner, the consolation remains that he has once again given a clear test of talent and has once again come a little closer to the absolute best in the world. This was his 13th duel with a top ten player, of which he won 4 and lost 9. In his only match with Nadal so far, Sinner lost in three sets in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros last year.

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Sinner has to give way to King Nadal

Jannik Sinner once again thrilled the tennis world in Rome on Wednesday evening, but a handful of mistakes ultimately cost him dearly in the high-class duel with clay court king Rafael Nadal.

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