After almost a month-long break following the Wimbledon triumph, Jannik Sinner came back to action at the Cincinnati Open. He faced Colombia’s Daniel Elahi Galán in the first match. Following a dominating victory against Galan, the Italian pointed out three aspects in his game that he felt needed improvement. Sinner claimed that these changes can make a “big difference” to his game and help him against his rivals. Guess what? His serve was on top of that list! Although Sinner continued his impressive run by winning his next match by 6-2,7-6(5), he didn’t look too pleased with his serves.
Jannik Sinner hit only 6 aces in that match, but committed 5 double faults. Frustrated, Sinner then headed straight to the practice court at 10 pm and hit about 100 serves. Seeing this, the former pro, Paolo Bertolucci, praised ‘obsessively meticulous’ Jannik Sinner through her writing for La Gazzetta dello Sport. She even drew a comparison of tennis stars like Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, who also used to seek immediate solutions to problems. Djokovic still does it, though! Due to that hard work, Sinner came up with better numbers (12 aces and 2 double faults) in his two-set triumph over Adrian Mannarino in the R16. During the post-match interview on Tennis Channel, Prakash Amritraj asked him if he’s happy with this improvement. Replying to this, the Italian also highlighted the challenges while playing in Cincy.
“Yeah, I felt like today I was serving very well. Actually, I didn’t have many chances against him today. I had you know some break chances in the first set. I couldn’t use them. He was serving very well, and this have been my chances,” he said. Further on, Jannik Sinner added, “I felt like you know, here as I always say, and then I keep repeating myself here, it’s very difficult to play tennis, and then when it’s a little bit breezy, then you know we saw today it can be windy, it can rain, and then one second after the sun is out. You never know what’s happening, but you just have to stay there mentally, and I felt like today the chances I had, I tried to use them, and it was a very positive match.“
Aug 10, 2024; Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Jannik Sinner (ITA) tracks his shot against Andrey Rublev (not pictured) in quarterfinal play at IGA Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports
Ranked 89th in the world, Adrian Mannarino saved a break point in the seventh game with an ace, but still, the 37-year-old lefty couldn’t stop his opponent from going on to claim the first set 6-4. The play was suspended for rain with Sinner 40-30 on serve and 2-1 down in the second set, before resuming the duel about 2 hours and 45 minutes later. Although Mannarino gave a tough fight in the second set, Jannik Sinner managed to secure a spot in the QF with a 6-4,7-6(4) triumph at the P&G Center Court.
With this win, Sinner has now reached his back-to-back QFs at the Cincinnati Open. This is also the eighth consecutive win in Cincy for the defending champion. What else did Jannik Sinner say after the match?
Jannik Sinner shares his thoughts about his next opponent
Jannik Sinner’s domination on hard courts is now well evident, with not just his three major titles on this surface, but he has now also secured 49 wins in his last 50 matches on hard courts. His only defeat during this period came against his fierce rival Carlos Alcaraz in the China Open final last October.
Now coming to his post-match reactions, Jannik Sinner hailed Adrian Mannarino as a tough opponent and also spoke about his unique ability to hit the balls very low. Sinner revealed that he tried to change his positions frequently in order to make his opponent feel uncomfortable in this match. Although he claims he struggled a bit to close it out, he’s very happy to secure a spot in the next round.
In his next match, Jannik Sinner will be taking on another tricky opponent! Currently ranked 28th in the world, Felix Auger-Aliassime is one of the few players who have an edge over the Italian in the H2H record. Sinner has faced the Canadian twice in his career so far, but surprisingly, he’s yet to win a match against this player.
During his interview with Tennis Channel, he also shared a few thoughts about his upcoming battle. Sinner said, “I never won against Felix. We had a very tough match here (2022 Cincinnati Open). I had a match point. I lost it, but it was a great match. He has huge potential, especially when he’s serving well. This is one surface that suits him very, very well in the games that he plays.”
Jannik Sinner believes this is going to be a “very difficult” match, but at the same time, he’s ready to “raise” his level of play and come up with a favorable result in this match. Do you think Sinner can finally open his account against this Canadian?
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