ATP Monte-Carlo: Sinner advances to the quarter-finals by saving a match point against Hurkacz (3-6, 7-6, 6-1)

Sinner had strong nerves

It didn’t take long. But Jannik Sinner finally got away with it. Not really launched by an entry into the running truncated by the abandonment of Diego Schwartzman on Wednesday, the Italian was entitled this time to a real test Thursday in the round of 16 of the Masters 1000 of Monte-Carlo. And the challenge launched by Hubert Hurkacz, 13th in the world, was almost fatal to him. Long unable to break his rival, Sinner had to save a match point in the tie-break of the second set before getting out of it in three sets (3-6, 7-6, 6-1) and 2h27 of play on the short Rainier-III. In the quarter, he will challenge his compatriot Lorenzo Musetti or world number 1 Novak Djokovic.

Jannik Sinner does not only have good memories of Hubert Hurkacz, even if the two men get along well. On the court, the Pole remains the Italian’s killer in his first Masters 1000 final in Miami in 2021. And perhaps the latter remembered it when he approached this round of 16 on the Rock on Thursday. Still, Sinner stumbled on a rock for a long time: surprised at the start of his serve, he found himself trailing by a set and a break (6-3, 2-1), before reacting to seize the opposing commitment for the first time.

From then on, Sinner was slightly superior in the battle from the baseline, but failed to convert his chances on the restart (especially at 6-5 in his favor), exposing himself to a tie-break of all dangers. He thus found himself led 6 points to 5 and forced to play an ultra-tense exchange on this match point against him. But he held his nerve and patiently outflanked his opponent. Two points later, the Italian equalized at one set everywhere, definitively tipping the game on his side. Here he is fully back in this tournament and the season on clay.

Rune takes advantage of Berrettini’s withdrawal

Before challenging Daniil Medvedev or Alexander Zverev, Holger Rune will not have spent unnecessary energy. The Dane did not even have to appear on the court on Thursday since Matteo Berrettini forfeited their round of 16. The Italian is suffering from an abdominal injury and more specifically a grade 2 tear of the internal oblique muscle and expressed his frustration on social media. On Wednesday, he had thus obtained a reference victory on earth by overthrowing Francisco Cerundolo (5-7, 7-6, 6-4) and estimated to gradually regain his level of play.