Rotterdam, Sinner beats Van de Zandschulp 6-3 6-3, now Monfils

Seventeen days have passed since Jannik Sinner’s triumph at the Australian Open, from the celebration lying on the floor on the baseline and from the dedication to his parents, but nothing has changed. The blue tennis player goes like a train, sweeps away Botic Van de Zandschulp – a player beaten in the first round also in Melbourne – and reaches the round of 16 in the 500 tournament in Rotterdam, in which in 2023 he was defeated in the final by Medvedev himself: the number 4 in the world (he will become number 3 if he lifts the trophy) wins with authority, 6-3 6-3. Gael Monfils is in the round of 16 (always on Thursday at 7.30pm) and we already know the name of his possible opponent in the quarterfinals: Milos Raonic, who won against Coric and Bublik without losing a single set.

first set

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Jannik shows up in Rotterdam with the same outfit in which he danced on the Melbourne Park fields, but with reduced staff: present in the corner are Simone Vagnozzi and the physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi. In the Dutch tournament, on the central court, you enter the playing field passing through the public: Sinner’s seems like a catwalk of honour, in front of him is the home idol but the applause is the same for both. And the Dutch fans immediately understand that there will be little to do for Van de Zandschulp: a few minutes of adjustment, with legs and arms to loosen for a moment, then Sinner imposes his law. The break that splits the first set comes in the fifth game, after having also had three chances in the third game: Van de Zanschulp did well to always play with the first serve on break points, but on the fourth occasion Jannik finds a great response and closes with a splendid passer-by. The Dutchman starts to make a lot of mistakes due to his haste: he knows that he has to put pressure on the South Tyrolean, the problem is that he cannot keep up with his opponent’s pace. On the other hand, Sinner grows on serve: after the break he doesn’t lose a single point in two rounds of serve and closes the set in the ninth game, winning another game in return.

sinner closes

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The second set opens with a scare for Sinner: 0-40 and three break points for his opponent. In the first game, coldly, after losing only three points on serve in the entire first set. Jannik, once again, shows what he is made of: ace and two first incisives to take the lead, another first (slice to come out from the right) and a point with the second. Van de Zandschulp becomes depressed: the feeling is of having missed – due to the merits of others – the great chance. And in fact Sinner doesn’t forgive: another break, the third in a row, and the match is dominated by faults by the Dutchman (two errors from above 40-15) and high performance by Jannik, who closes the second game with a splendid back forehand in defense to induce the opponent to make a mistake at the net. Sinner quickly takes the lead to 3-0, gets his hands on the match and begins to experiment, trying the short ball for the first time: few variations for him in the match, Jannik wins the match with pace (the difference between the two is too great), perseverance and head. In the seventh game, when Van de Zandschulp wins a hard rally from the baseline, the crowd cheers as if the home idol had won the match: the distance between Jannik and his opponent is all there. Also because in the next point Sinner reaches out while running and finds a winning diagonal from him, and then closes the game with a spectacular performance. Message sent and received: you can’t joke with this Jannik. The blue has two match points in return in the eighth game, he closes in the game following the serve: for Sinner that’s eight wins out of eight in 2024; also considering the end of last season, 11 consecutive and 21 of the last 22 games played. Welcome back, Jannik.