Jannik Sinner, jostled by Taylor Fritz, scored a second consecutive victory in the ATP Masters on Tuesday in Turin, where Daniil Medvedev regained hope after a catastrophic entry into contention by outclassing Alex De Minaur.
Sinner is not world number one for nothing. The Italian suffered against Fritz, but ended up taking the upper hand in two sets 6-4, 6-4.
The score of this meeting does not reflect the identical scenario of the two rounds, where Fritz, 5th in the world, took advantage of the difficulties in Sinner's service to offer himself break points, without being able to convert them.
And twice, when he was on the verge of breaking earlier, the Italian disgusted his opponent whom he had beaten clearly in the final of the US Open, by first converting his first set point, then his first match point.
“It was a difficult match, against an opponent who served very well. I could have served better, but I held up in the rallies where we fought a great battle,” analyzed the Italian .
“I have come closer to my first goal which is to reach the semi-finals, but it will not be easy against Daniil” Medvedev, he warned.
“It was a good match, I played well, I created chances, there are a lot of positives to take from such a match for me, even if I am frustrated to have missed my chance” , estimated Fritz.
Despite his flawless performance since the start of the “masters tournament”, Sinner, 23, is not yet guaranteed to reach the final four.
If he loses sharply on Thursday, his tournament will end there. It remains to be seen which Medvedev will run against him.
– “Twenty-six times better” –
The one dominated by Fritz on Sunday (6-4, 6-3), who had shown his worst face both in terms of the game and his behavior, between a broken racket and casualness which earned him whistles from the public?
Or the one who produced offensive tennis and never gave De Minaur the slightest chance (6-2, 6-4)?
“He delivered a very high level match, he was much more aggressive. The way he hit the balls, you could tell he was confident,” noted the Australian who lost all hope of reaching the last square.
To explain his metamorphosis, Medvedev explained that he approached this meeting with a very… “Medvedian” mental approach.
“I entered the field really, really trying not to care if I lost or if I won, if I played well or if I played badly,” he explained in a long and very lively conference. press.
“Unfortunately for Alex, it worked and I played twenty-six times better than in my first match,” smiled the Russian who also made material changes “with a view to next season”.
“It's not an attitude I could have for a whole season, but it's the end of the year and it was the solution after losing my temper, because I lost my temper, against Fritz,” he continued.
He also returned to his celebration after his victory, when he covered his ears “to say that I had blocked the noise that came from me, from the stands or from social networks”.
Medvedev's recent record against Sinner does not necessarily encourage optimism: he has lost seven of their last eight confrontations including the final of the 2024 Australian Open.
“I know what I have to do tactically against him, but the problem is that he is so good, even if you play the perfect match from a tactical or tennis point of view, you can lose,” warned the Russian.
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