ROMA. Mentally indestructible, even if still with a sore hip, and above all a winner: Jannik Sinner he’s back. The Italian champion won the Cincinnati Masters 1000 at the end of a demanding climb during which he beat his opponents but also a bit of skepticism about his real potential. He did it as an “Italian”, suffering and fighting for every ball and never taking anything for granted. “A difficult week” he himself admitted during which he also celebrated his 23rd birthday. And this is his gift.
The US tournament preceding the US Open was not a walk in the park but rather an uphill path, full of unexpected obstacles and opponents overcome one after the other with great determination. It is also an on-court response to those who called the “red baron” in a declining phase and to the many who, perhaps resentful for the withdrawal from the Olympics, had lost a bit of empathy for this guy who has in his psychological strength his most devastating weapon against his fellow tennis players and critics. On the Cincinnati hard court, the US tournament with the longest tradition, Sinner he imposed himself on Frances Tiafoethe home favourite, in two sets 7-6 (7/4), 6-2. It took just one hour and 36 minutes to benevolently “get revenge” on the tennis player who beat him in the semifinals in Vienna in 2021: that was one of the few times, if not the only one, in which the South Tyrolean protested against a rival who had “put on a show” to get the crowd on his side, distract them and had “disrespected” him.
But a lot of time has passed since then and, above all, the values on the field have changed. Today there was a tense, hard-fought first set, but in the second set the Italian did not concede anything to Tiafoe for which he later had words of praise. “I’m happy to see you playing at this level again. Last year was difficult for you, he said after the match. I wish you and your team, I know you’ve turned it around, the best for the US Open and the rest of the season”. Sinner he consolidated his position as number one in the ATP rankings and obtained his fifth tournament victory of the season. “I’m happy, it was a tough week. This match was mentally difficult – he commented Jannik – We both came from long semifinals, with a lot of tension. I’m happy with my performance, how I managed the match and the whole week”, he told the ATP hot after the triumph in Cincinnati, his third in a Masters 1000 and the fifteenth title of his career on the major circuit.
Thanks to the success on Tiafoe, sinner became the youngest champion in the history of the tournament since Andy Murray in 2008. “I had a lot of ups and downs this week,” he later admitted. “Now it’s important to recover and be ready for New York, for the US Open. That’s our main goal for this part of the season in North America. I hope to be able to show some good tennis in Flushing Meadows.
I want to thank my team for always being there for me, even in difficult moments and we have had a few of those in the last period”. And Jannik he wanted to give himself a gift. “This is a special week for me because I’m celebrating my birthday. I don’t usually like to celebrate it, but this is a special week.”
2024-08-21 08:51:31