One round further: Jannik Sinner © APA / afp / TIZIANA FABI
First a hint of listlessness, then a freak that is typical for him and finally great tennis: Fabio Fognini (ATP 56) showed all his facets at the Masters 1000 tournament in Rome on Wednesday, but did not throw a stoic Jannik Sinner off track .
11. May 2022
From: leo
Jannik Sinner should have gone into the eagerly awaited match with a good feeling. On the one hand because the 20-year-old had put in an appealing performance against Pedro Martinez, on the other hand because the record against compatriots before the match was 3-0. Fognini’s was also positive at 20:12, but he also had to accept some crushing defeats. In 2010, for example, the almost 35-year-old lost 6-0 and 6-3 against Andreas Seppi in Rome. The final result on Wednesday wasn’t quite as clear, but Sinner’s success was never in danger: He won 6:2, 3:6 and 6:3.
In front of 10,500 spectators on the “Centrale”, the match began extremely strangely: Sinner gave up the first six points through avoidable mistakes, but then won 16 of the next 20 rallies. The result: a double break and a comfortable 5:1 lead. Fognini seemed inhibited in his movements, hardly resisted and almost apathetically unwound his program. Unusually emotionless, he lost the first set after about half an hour.
Hooked his racket: Fabio Fognini © APA / afp / TIZIANA FABI
Sinner was not infected by Fognini’s appearance. The South Tyrolean played solidly, benefited from the many mistakes made by his opponent and never had to use his full potential. That changed at the start of the second set: Suddenly the veteran, encouraged by the crowd, played offensive and mostly flawless tennis. Sinner was repeatedly put on the defensive and seemed a bit impressed by it. Abandoned by the first serve, the sextner conceded the break to make it 1:3.
Fognini rastet aus
The turn? no way. Fognini gave up this valuable lead again due to two double mistakes. The hotspur then smashed his bat, which was acknowledged by the ranks with an unmistakable concert of whistles. In addition, the Italian received a warning for it. Sinner then continued to struggle with his serve, which Fognini promptly exploited for the next break. The match was now entering its prime. Both actors delighted the fans with some unbelievable points. However, Sinner made significantly more mistakes than at the beginning, which meant that Fognini, who now played flawlessly, had no problem successfully defending the break until the end of the set – equalizing the set.
Relieved: Jannik Sinner © ANSA / ETTORE FERRARI
Sinner didn’t seem to find any means against his opponent’s variable play. Fognini worked out a breakball right at the start of the deciding sentence, which the 20-year-old fought off with a cracking serve-forehand combination. Shortly thereafter, the South Tyrolean also had two break chances, but Fognini also kept a cool head. The match was now on a knife’s edge. After Sinner caught up a 0:30 deficit on his own serve, he won twelve points in a row – and thus ran away to 4:1. The world number 13. seemed to have everything under control now. To the chagrin of his fans, he couldn’t take advantage of Fognini’s phase of weakness and quickly gave up the precious break.
Now Krajinovic is waiting
Because the man from Sanremo then made two double mistakes and also missed a simple forehand, Sinner got the break back. The serving out was then only a matter of form. After about two hours, the Sextner used his first match point and thus made it into the round of 16. In this he now meets the Serb Filip Krajinovic (ATP 54), who surprisingly knocked out Andrey Rublev. Sinner won the only encounter so far last year in Sofia on hard court in two sets. The match takes place on Thursday at around 3 p.m.
