Jannik Sinner in the round of 16 of the ATP Masters 1000 in Madrid. The 22-year-old Italian, world number 2 and first seeded on Spanish clay, beat the Russian Pavel Kotov 6-2, 7-5 in 1h38′. Now he will face another Russian, Karen Khachanov: the number 16 seed beats Flavio Cobolli 7-5, 6-4 in 1h34′.
Sinner will have to recover his best condition after the 2-set victory against Kotov, in an evening that risks extending into the third quarter against a treacherous opponent. The Australian Open champion serves 67% of his first balls but has to face 6 break points in the match, giving up serve 3 times and risking complicating his life in the second set. The blue player reaches double figures due to gratuitous errors (12) but confirms that he is very effective at returning: when Kotov has to resort to the second ball, Sinner wins one point out of two (14/27). This also explains the 13 overall break points that the blue player gets in 100 minutes of the match.
The match
Sinner starts with his foot on the accelerator and immediately scores the break (2-0) which seems to direct the first set. Kotov breaks the blue’s serve (2-1) but immediately gives up the serve for the world number 2’s new attack: Sinner escapes 3-1 and never looks back, closing the set 6-2.
The second set gets complicated in the fourth game: Sinner, apparently struggling with a hip problem, gives up serve and allows the Russian to break away (3-1). Kotov doesn’t seem to give his opponent a chance, at 5-3 he wastes a break point which is worth the second set. Sinner stays afloat and in the tenth game he scores the break which is worth 5-5. Ahead 6-5, the blue has a series of match points available: 3 consecutive, which are canceled by Kotov. The fourth opportunity is the good one: Sinner closes 7-5 and flies to the round of 16.
How is Jannik?
“I struggled a bit with my right hip. We are looking for a solution, I don’t think it’s anything serious”, says the Italian after the match. “Sometimes I feel like I felt today, other times it’s a little better. I have an excellent team behind me, we will try to prepare my body for tomorrow. We will decide tomorrow what is best for me and my body” , he says without ruling out, in theory, surprise decisions.
