Australian Open: Denis Shapovalov ends Jannik Sinner's successful run
Denis Shapovalov stoppedJannik Sinner's run of success in the first round of the Australian Open. The Canadian prevailed in a high-class match in five sets.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Feb 08, 2021, 02:51 pm
"It's not just about winning. Sometimes defeats help even more, even in important matches. Especially when you're still so young," said Jannik Sinner after winning the tournament at the Great Ocean Road Open in Melbourne. Sinner should have learned a lot from his Australian Open first round defeat against Denis Shapovalov - even if that should only help him in a few days.
Everything looked so good for the 19-year-old at the beginning. Sinner continued exactly where he left off in the final of the preparatory tournament in Melbourne against Stefano Travaglia. With powerful serves and rapid baseline hits, the South Tyrolean put his Canadian opponent under constant pressure. Logically, sentence one went to the youngster quite clearly with 6: 3.
Even after that, Sinner, who had gone into the match with the confidence of ten wins in a row, continued to play free. At the score of 3: 4, the world number 32. but give up his serve for the first time. After this break things suddenly happened very quickly: Shapovalov won sets two and three and was already 3-1 ahead in the fourth round.
Shapovalov against Tomic in the second round
Completely out of nowhere, the already somewhat tired-looking Sinner then unpacked his best tennis and secured five of the next six games - a fifth round was the logical consequence. In this Shapovalov, who sprinkled two underam serves in the second game, managed the first break.
Despite a breakball for Sinner in the last game, the 21-year-old couldn't take this lead. After 3:55 hours of play, Shapovalov fixed the 3: 6, 6: 3, 6: 2, 4: 6 and 6: 4 success. In the second round, the world number twelfth will face local hero Bernard Tomic, who in turn benefited from Yuichi Sugita's task.
Here is the men's single tableau
laver arena