Thriller in New York: Sinner is in the round of 16!

The approach in tennis is to gain momentum in the first few rounds and then continuously improve. Jannik Sinner obviously took this to heart, because after two decent performances, the 20-year-old put in a performance at the Louis Armstrong Stadium on Saturday that deserved the adjective excellent - at least for long stretches, because the Sexten native let in the occasional one or recognize other weakness. Nevertheless, after almost four dramatic hours, Sinner prevailed 7:6, 6:2, 4:6, 4:6 and 6:4.

From the first shot, it was clear that Sinner approached the matter with greater concentration given his opponent's class - especially in his own service games. The rate of first serves was high and the number of errors was low. And yet he still had to fend off three break points when the score was 4:4. However, that was due to the Frenchman, who insisted on everything, played risky games and put Sinner under pressure. The 35-year-old was successful with this tactic when the score was 5:5. He broke Sinner, but couldn't close the set. He still had a 30-0 lead in the game. From that point on, Monfils lost eleven of the next twelve points. Conversely, this meant that the youngster not only equalized to 6:6, but also won the following tiebreak without discussion 7:1. Sinner has the upper hand Monfils was now completely out of character. Although he was able to prevent a break in the first games of the second set thanks to his cracking serve, as the minutes wore on he basically didn't win a point as soon as the rally began. That couldn't go well - also because Sinner didn't give away any ball on the other side, didn't let himself down despite missed break opportunities and felt that he was the better player that day. The numbers expressed this superiority: Thanks to two breaks, he grabbed the second set 6:2.

A showman: Gael Monfils © ANSA / JUSTIN LANE

What was impressive up to this point was Sinner's light-footedness: Despite the six hours he played in the first two matches, he moved like a gazelle, stood correctly for every ball and was correspondingly strong in defense. Monfils found no answer to this Sinner (at first). His wife Elina Svitolina, who has already reached the round of 20 for the women, looked similarly perplexed in the stands. Only when the audience tuned in and loudly cheered on the Frenchman did the world number 6 rear up. up again. He earned four break points, all of which Sinner fended off. What's more: Shortly afterwards the South Tyrolean managed a break, but he couldn't defend it. Not least because the error rate now shot up and Monfils played significantly better. The Frenchman came back from nowhere - and won the third set 4:XNUMX. Sinner makes life difficult for himself The turn? Not at all! Sinner briefly left the court after losing the set and came back with even greater momentum: in the first service game he took the service from his opponent - also thanks to a sensational point. And although he then escaped to 4-0, the cake wasn't eaten yet. One bad game was enough to bring Monfils back to life - only 4:3. And a few moments later it was even 4:5 after Sinner gave up his serve again. The Louis Armstrong Stadium, which stood closed behind the extroverted Frenchman, had now turned into a madhouse. This impressed the young South Tyrolean, who not only completely lost his thread, but also the set - it went into the fifth.

This one started just like the one before – namely with a break for Sinner. With the experience of the fourth set behind him, the youngster was now forewarned. Although he repeatedly found himself in trouble in his own service games, he always pulled his head out of the loop and used his last strength to save the lead over the distance. When he scored his first match point after 3.44:XNUMX hours, Sinner looked up relieved, beat his heart and let his emotions run wild. Monfils took the defeat sportily and congratulated fairly.

In the round of 4 everything now points to a duel against the German Alexander Zverev (ATP 24). The XNUMX-year-old is playing his third round against American Jack Sock and is the heavy favorite.

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Thriller in New York: Sinner is in the round of 16!

What a fight, what emotions, what a victory: Jannik Sinner made it into the round of 16 at the US Open on Saturday evening (CEST) in dramatic fashion. The match against Gael Monfils offered everything that makes a tennis heart beat faster.

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