ATP Madrid: Jannik Sinner missed the last 16 duel with Rafael Nadal
Jannik Sinner failed surprisingly early at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Madrid. The South Tyrolean lost to the Australian qualifier Alexei Popyrin in round two.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: May 05, 2021, 05:47 pm
It had already looked so good in the first round for the young South Tyrolean, who had already reached the final of an ATP Masters 1000 event this calendar year. As expected, Sinner led with a break, with a score of 5: 4 had the chance to bag set one with his own serve.
In the end, however, nothing came of it. Sinner had to accept the rebreak, left a few chances in the tie-break that followed a little later - and thus had to reject set one completely contrary to the course of the game with 5: 7 in the short decision.
Popyrin meets Nadal
However, this gave his opponent, the Australian qualifier Alexei Popyrin, a boost. The Australian dominated the second round almost at will, took the lead with a double break and finally made the surprise victory 6-2.
Popyrin now meets second in the world rankings Rafael Nadal in the last 16. The Spaniard showed no nakedness in the generation duel with Carlos Alcaraz and won his round of 16 ticket 6-1 and 6-2. The winner of the duel between Nadal and Popyrin could meet Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals.