After almost a month since the last game played, there is the long-awaited return of Jannik Sinner. An unbeaten 2024 so far for the South Tyrolean, who triumphed first at the Australian Open and then also in the Rotterdam tournament. Today the journey begins in the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells, with the native of San Candido appearing at the starting line perhaps as the main favorite for the final victory together with Novak Djokovic.
The first on Californian concrete will not be easy for the South Tyrolean, however, who will have to compete against the Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis. The world number 99 is certainly a talented player, but also very discontinuous within the same match. On his debut, Kokkinakis beat the American Marcos Giron very clearly, earning himself the challenge against the Italian, who has always won in the three previous matches played so far.
The first challenge between the two was the hardest, with Sinner coming back in Cincinnati in 2022 in the tie-break of the third set after more than three hours of great battle. Last season the world number three won on the hard courts of Adelaide and on the red clay of Rome.
Clearly Sinner’s goal is to reach the final, also because it would be worth overtaking Carlos Alcaraz as number two in the world. The Spaniard could be the South Tyrolean’s opponent in the semi-final in another chapter of their spectacular rivalry.
In case of victory against Kokkinakis for Sinner there would be a challenge with the winner of the match between the German Jan-Lennard Struff and the Croatian Borna Coric. A treacherous third round, but the eighth final is possible with Ben Shelton or the young Czech Jakub Mensik who teases even more. In the quarter-finals, however, there could be a challenge with the Russian Andrey Rublev.
A path therefore full of pitfalls and not to be underestimated for a Sinner who has nevertheless entered a new dimension and who wants to put up his second 1000 of his career.
2024-03-08 10:06:09
#ATP #Indian #Wells #return #Jannik #Sinner #Debut #Kokkinakis #nontrivial #scoreboard #Alcaraz
