Internazionali di Roma: Sinner beats Martinez and earns the derby with Fognini

The clouds threatened a storm, so why risk extending an evening on the Central? Jannik Sinner does everything quickly and well, overcomes the Spaniard number 40 in the world Pedro Martinez 6-4 6-3 and earns the derby with Fabio Fognini: “It will be a very difficult match, he plays well in Rome, but I will try to make my best – said Vagnozzi’s pupil after the match -. I respect him so much because he helped me a lot in the Davis Cup, it was my first time. Eh … Unfortunately, it’s up to us. ” The two have never faced each other on the circuit and Fabio already yesterday, on the day in which he saved his homeland by overcoming the round, the only one among seven Italians in the race, had expressed this desire: “I dream of facing Jannik in an Italian derby, he is the present and the future of our tennis, together with Musetti and Berrettini, who, despite the injury, remains one of the top ten players in the world. I think this challenge could be an opportunity to confront myself with this new generation, it is a nice challenge and then it also happens that you can lose … “. Certainly the derby ruins his plans, in fact ours will compete not before 7pm on the Central and Fabio will not be able to go and see his Inter against Juventus for the Italian Cup final.

The match

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The departure is burning, despite the coolness of the Roman evening. Break in Jannik’s second game who then keeps his serve and climbs 3-0 against the 25-year-old Spaniard. After 19 minutes the South Tyrolean is already 4-1, evidently he doesn’t want to be late, and in the 6th game he tries again to snatch Martinez’s serve. He also experiments with some new patterns, attempting the attack on the net, the intentions are good but they do not go to sign so much that he remains “harnessed”.

Perhaps due to an excess of confidence, Sinner allows the Spaniard to return just when he is serving for the set. However, the blue is not lost, who in the ninth game has two set points on the rival’s serve and closes the first set 6-4. He doesn’t give the impression of slowing Jannik even in the second set. He starts with a break, and at 2-0 he must save himself from the danger of his rival returning. He does it with decision then extends 3-0 and 4-1 without giving the world number 40 the opportunity to re-enter the game. After an hour and a quarter he is already 5-2, one step away from the finish line which he cuts shortly after with the final 6-3 and victory number 101 in his career.

Record at the Forum

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Meanwhile, the Foro Italico and the Internazionali celebrate a historic record of attendance: 34,406 people. The precedent obviously dates back to before the pandemic, in the 2019 edition when there were 33,721 on May 16. Even the highest takings have already been surpassed, 14.8 million euros.