In the round of 16 in Rotterdam, Jannik challenges the player who has beaten him five times out of six and against whom he has lost in the last two years at the Australian Open. The match tonight at 19.30
Tsitsipas, you again? For Sinner, another test with Greek: “I can’t wait”. In the round of 16 in Rotterdam, Jannik challenges the player who has beaten him five times out of six and against whom he has lost in the last two years at the Australian Open “It will be difficult, but I can’t wait”. For Sinner, facing Tsitsipas does not only mean facing one of the best in the world. The matches against the Greek, number 3 in the ranking, are marking Jannik’s growth, calibrating his ambitions and highlighting the aspects of the game – and of the physique – on which we still need to work to be permanently among the best. In the round of 16 of the 500 tournament in Rotterdam there will be the seventh match between the two: against no player the South Tyrolean has played more matches in his career at ATP level. Tonight’s one – appointment at 19.30 on Sky Sport and Supertennis – will be another important exam, after the two (so different from each other) failed in Australia, last year and a few weeks ago.
The moment
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“Tsitsipas is a very strong player, but I’m ready.” Knowing Sinner, he can’t wait to take the field against the Greek. Because there is no better opponent for Jannik to test himself against. Stefanos was the last player against whom the number 14 in the world lost a match: after the knockout in the round of 16 in Melbourne, in five sets, Sinner won the 250 tournament in Montpellier and beat Benjamin Bonzi in the first round in Rotterdam, in three sets: “It’s always difficult to take the field when you arrive very late compared to the previous tournament, I’m happy with my performance against Bonzi. It wasn’t an easy match, we both made a lot of unforced mistakes. But I’ve always tried to focus on my game.”
In Rotterdam
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A few weeks have passed since the match between the two in Melbourne, but many things have happened: Sinner won the seventh title of his career, Tsitsipas played in a Grand Slam final. For the first time, the two will face each other on indoor hard courts: “I like the conditions here, I adapted quickly”. The Rotterdam tournament has an important value in Sinner’s career: three years ago, as number 79 in the world and with a wild card, Sinner won his first match against a top-10, David Goffin. Against the Greek, he is looking for the first success of his career against a tennis player among the top three in the world.
Stefanos again
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A few months after that success against Goffin, Sinner found the first and only victory against Tsitsipas, on clay in Rome in September. Jannik has lost all the other five matches against the Greek: the first right at the Internazionali d’Italia, in the second round in 2019. It was the South Tyrolean’s fourth match at ATP level. Stefanos marked Sinner’s stages: the match in Australia last year was emblematic, with the Greek’s victory in three sets which marked the end of the idyll between Jannik and Riccardo Piatti. This year there was more fighting, Tsitsipas won in the fifth after his opponent’s comeback. It’s time for another test, a match that can be worth a lot for Sinner. Whoever wins will find Stan Wawrinka in the quarterfinals.
February 16 – 08:43
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