International, Sinner beats Navone 6-3 6-4 and flies to the third round

Where did we stay? Jannik Sinner returned, in every sense, 104 days after the triumph at the Australian Open and the last game on the circuit. Against the Argentine Mariano Navone, on the evening of the debut to the international, is not yet the best Jannik, the rust of the three months of suspension for the doping case could not be obtained. But the ability to bring out the best was reviewed in the moments that matter, that cynicism that led him to be the best player in the world, and so much was enough to bring home the meeting. Sinner wins in two sets, with a score of 6-3 6-4, in a overflowed central and with a stadium cheering trying to imitate that of the nearby Olympic of the concomitant Lazio-Juventus. No, it wasn’t a simple game. For psychological implications, primarily. And for the opponent. The 24 -year -old South American is currently number 99 in the ranking, but a year ago he was in top 30 and is always a difficult customer on earth. That land that for Sinner remains the least preferred surface, on which, however, 337 did not perform, that is, from the semifinal of Roland Garros lost with Alcaraz. Match after match will be better and better. The next will be Monday, for the third round, with the Dutch Jesper de Jong, 24 years old N.93 ATP, who made his way in the Lucky Looser scoreboard passing the series head N.25 Davidovich Fokina with a clear 6-0 6-2.

the game

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The Italian Forum is the perfect scenario for the return to the races of Italian number 1 of the ranking. There is a game in the game, that is, the reviving of that special relationship between the fox (which someone from the stands affectionately calls “puppy”) and his audience. The entrance to the field puts the chills, the over 10 thousand places of the stands are all busy, the orange hats are depopulated. It starts, finally. In the first point of Renrée Sinner, he immediately commands the exchange. A fan, from the stands, screams: “Pull more slowly that hurts”. The blows already appear deep and heavy but sometimes Jannik is impatient to close, as if to recover the lost time. And it is predictably contracted. And then Navone is not doing so easily as a sacrificial victim of the ceremony and tries to open the field with the right. In the third game the blue must cancel a break ball. That little alarm gives him the shock to raise the level.

the turning point

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Thus tears the service to the Argentine, free the reverse and flies 4-1. The public is exalted and every change of field intones the choir “Olé, Olé, Olé, Olé, Sinner, Sinner”. Navone tries to be clinging to the match but now Sinner plays more free. A length reverse of its certification that has really returned and embellishes a joke kept at zero: 5-2. Then, serving for the first set, Jannik is dragged to the advantages: closing with a winning service and an Argentine error. The first partial is on the icebox, despite a low percentage of first (50%). The 11 winners draw the 11 unformed errors. In the second set Navone has a break on 2-1 but a comfortable response is wrong. Sinner also suffers in the subsequent service shift (15-30) but then, in the seventh fought game (which lasted almost 13 minutes), transforms the third break ball. It is not the mortgage on the match because Navone places the counterbreak and goes to 4-4. Jannik, however, does not want to extend the challenge to the third set, keeps the concentration high and still wins the response game. And this time he keeps the service for the 6-4 with ease who closes the accounts.

words

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At the end of the game Sinner is satisfied: “I played a good match. There were ups and downs, but it’s normal. The best thing is that I played with the right attitude. I gave everything I had. I am happy because I waited so much, it is difficult to have feedback when there are no games, and then Mariano is a great player especially on this surface”. And of course a special thanks to the public: “It was incredible, it gave me the strength to continue even in difficult moments”.