He struggles, but gets through to the round of 16 of the Masters 1000 in Shanghai, Jannik Sinner. The Italian beat the Argentine in three sets Tomas Etcheverryn. 37 in the world, with a score of 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 in almost three hours of play. A hard-fought victory for the South Tyrolean who had to deal with the best version of Etcheverry.
The South American played a very high level match, but Sinner did well to hang on to the match in moments of difficulty, going out into the distance. Mental strength and quality in shots for the Italian who equals last year’s result and awaits Shelton or Carballes Baena in the round of 16 on Tuesday.
«It was a difficult match, physically and mentally. Tomorrow is a rest day which I really need”, underlined Sinner at the end of the match. «I had my chances in the first set, then he played an excellent tiebreak – added the South Tyrolean – In the second set I was one break above, then I suffered the counterbreak, but subsequently I found my rhythm. He started to serve worse and I managed to play games in return. I’m happy, tomorrow will be a day of rest which I really need to be ready for the next match.”
«It was tough, there’s no doubt about it. They are matches where you have to pay a lot of attention to what you do but it was also a lot of fun and I had fun today. It lasted a long time, as did the one that preceded us, and I’m happy to be part of it. But even more important is being able to rest tomorrow because today I need to recover so that I can be ready tomorrow”, added the world number one speaking at the press conference. «There are many tournaments and the ideal would be for there to be no Davis Cup after the ATP Finals. It’s something that I would definitely change in the schedule, the rest is up to us players to decide and I think that this year we managed to choose the right tournaments at the right time.
There are the Masters which are ‘mandatory’, but for example I could choose whether to play in Beijing before coming here. There are still things that we players can decide,” he concluded. Instead, he came close to achieving it Matteo Arnaldi, who in the first match was defeated in three sets by the Russian Daniil Medvedev who prevailed 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. The former world number 1, who has not yet won a title this season, will face the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas or French Alexandre Müller. The game program in Shanghai was upset due to the rain: the outdoor matches were canceled – they were only played on the central court, equipped with coverage – including those of Berrettini, Musetti and Cobolli. Unstoppable Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini.
The two Italians also won the title of the «China Open», the penultimate WTA 1000 of the season which ended on the hard courts of Beijing. In the final – the seventh they reached together – the Italians, seeded fifth, prevailed 6-4 6-4, in an hour and a half of match, over the Taiwanese Hao-Chin Chan and the Russian Veronika Kudermetova. For the Italians it is the fourth title of the season (including the Olympic gold in Paris), the fifth in their career, out of seven finals played. And the year isn’t over yet because on the horizon there is the WTA 1000 in Wuhan (which will start tomorrow), but above all the WTA Finals in Riyadh after the arithmetic qualification earned in Beijing. «Today I think we played a really good match – Paolini’s words in the press conference -. It’s never easy to play in a final. I think we did a great job.”
Beijing second «1000» trophy, Olympic gold, a Slam final (Roland Garros): a truly beautiful doubles season for both. «Yes, it is truly an incredible year – underlined Sara Errani -. We won a lot. And it was fantastic for us to win this trophy in such an important tournament like Beijing. We hope to continue like this.”