Celebrates his victory: Jannik Sinner © APA / afp / MUHAMMAD FAROOQ
True to the motto “a good horse doesn’t jump higher than it has to” Jannik Sinner held Italy in the race for the Davis Cup finals in Bratislava on Saturday.
March 05, 2022
From: leo
Perhaps Sinner is not in the form of last autumn at the moment, but the figures from Sextner speak for themselves: he played 13 individual matches in the young season – and won eleven of them. In Bratislava he kept his team alive with a 7:5, 6:4 win against Filip Horansky (ATP 203) and equalized against Slovakia to 2:2. In the game between Lorenzo Musetti and Norbert Gombos, which takes place on Saturday evening, it will now be decided who will advance to the final round of the Davis Cup.
Sinner had to complete a truly mammoth program on Saturday. Before he competed in singles, he was used by captain Filippo Volandri in doubles with veteran Simone Bolelli. The duo fought a hard fight with Filip Polasek and Igor Zelenay, which was lost 3:6, 6:1 and 6:7 after more than two hours of play. Because Lorenzo Sonego had to admit defeat to Horansky the day before, there was a lot of pressure on Sinner. He withstood this.
Post start
Sinner got off to a bad start in Bratislava. The 20-year-old lost seven of the first eight points, seemed impressed by his opponent’s aggressive play and quickly fell 3-0 behind. When the initial nervousness subsided, the class difference became clear. Sinner increased the length and speed of his shots, so Horansky was repeatedly pushed onto the defensive. He somehow cheated his way to 5:5, but after that there was no stopping him. With a number of winning strokes, Sinner took the edge off Horansky, won the set and also pulled away to 2-0 in the second round.
Although the South Tyrolean didn’t offer a flawless performance afterwards, it was good enough to keep the Slovak at a distance. After 1.32 hours, Sinner used his first match ball and thus also won his eighth match in the azure dress. Italy’s hopes now rest on youngster Musetti.
