Jannik fights in the first set which lasts an hour and 10, then overwhelms the 21 year old who leaves the court in tears. In the next round he finds the Czech 32nd in the world
The Frecciarossa of Alto Adige doesn’t even stop at the Ben Shelton station and reaches 18 consecutive victories. Another great performance from Jannik Sinner who against the left-handed player from 2002 (the first he faced this year) wins a place in the quarterfinals of Indian Wells where on Thursday he will face Jiri Lehecka who got rid of Stefanos Tsitsipas by reaching the last 8 of a Masters 1000.
A ferocious battle, lasting an hour and 10 minutes in the first set with all the bravado of the 21 year old thrown onto the court to contain the excessive power of the Italian, first ahead by a break and then caught again by the American who finally gives up the first set in the tie break suffering a heavy setback in the second. He mourns the phone of Ben Shelton who loses 7-6 6-1 but once again shows potentially lethal talent and strength when they are put on the field with order and less impulsiveness.
THE MATCH
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In the fourth game Sinner’s first misses and Shelton is very dangerous: he gets two break points. the first is canceled out with a solid forehand serve, then the American places a return into the net and Jannik takes the lead. With a backhand error from Sinner, Ben has a third break chance, he has the chance to close the exchange with his forehand but it goes long. After 6 minutes of play, another break point, the fourth. First winner and still equal, then Sinner has the chance to make it 2-2 and closes. The South Tyrolean senses the danger and in the 5th game pushes on the accelerator, taking a 3-2 lead at the second break point. Jannik Sinner stays ahead until he serves for the set. He continues to touch his elbow and gets hooked at 30-30 and then to the advantages. The tape that had helped him now condemns him to a counterbreak ball. A backhand that goes long allows Shelton to return: 5-5. But Jannik keeps calm and gets 3 more break points. He can’t finish. And Shelton holds serve with the crowd on his side: 6-5. Sinner earns the tie break without trembling: he starts and recovers an impossible ball, taking a minibreak ahead, going up 2-0. He gets a time violation for changing a deflated ball and with an ace he extends the lead to 3-0. Shelton serves a second and Jannik dominates the point, another minibreak for 4-1, but immediately after Ben recovers, 4-4. Again everything has to be done again and even Cahill starts to get nervous. The American returns to level: 4-4 but loses serve again. This time Jannik displaces the American, earns a set point and closes the tie break 7-4. Shelton returns to the court subpar in the second set, makes many mistakes, thinks too much, loses confidence in his serve and immediately suffers a break, sinking 4-1 and giving up the serve again in the 6th game and sending Sinner to serve for the match. It doesn’t fail, the world’s number 2 operation is still standing.