Jannik Sinner has so far been unstoppable at the Australian Open. For Holger Rune it was not possible to win more than one set. But the Italian is worried about his body.
Sinner won confidently against the Dane 6:3, 3:6, 6:3, 6:2 and still has good prospects of defending his title in Melbourne. A year ago, the Italian tennis star achieved his first Grand Slam tournament victory there when he defeated Daniil Medvedev in five sets. Sinner subsequently won the US Open in 2024 and is currently undisputed at the top of the world rankings.
Although Sinner had problems with his first serve, which he only hit 56 percent of the time, he only allowed five break chances throughout the game, of which Rune was only able to take advantage of one. His opponent, however, broke the 21-year-old four times in eight attempts. Things got strange once in the fourth set when the net broke and the game was interrupted for 15 minutes.
Sinner felt “very strange” in the morning
However, Sinner dragged himself around the court between rallies with physical problems, especially in the third set, and kept grimacing in pain. During breaks, he held his towel with shaky hands.
“It was very hard. I tried to stay mentally and I’m very grateful for the support of the fans, 90 percent of it is thanks to you today.”said Sinner after the game. “I had a very strange morning, didn’t even warm up. I knew from the start that I was going to suffer.” With the score at 3-2, he took a medical timeout after his blood pressure was measured on the court. The Italian felt visibly better afterwards.
Possible final against Zverev
In the quarterfinals Sinner (“I have to recover well now and then hope that I’m ready for the next game”) on local hero Alex de Minaur, who clearly defeated the American youngster Alex Michelsen in three sets. Alexander Zverev, who will play his quarter-final against Tommy Paul (USA) on Tuesday night (January 21, 2025, according to the tournament schedule from 4 a.m.), could only meet Sinner in the final.