• Italy
• Tennis
• USA

Melbourne, Australia, Jan 24 (EFE).-

Australian Open Jannik Sinner narrowly avoided elimination before the second week of the tournament against an enthusiastic opponent, Eliot Spizzirri, and amid intense heat that forced him to mount a comeback and make an extra effort to pull off a four-set 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory in four hours and 40 minutes.

Sinner’s body language in the third set, when he was down 3-1, stiff, cramping, barely able to stand, and not knowing what to do, suggested a bleak outlook for the four-time Grand Slam winner, who looked to his box for a solution.

He appealed to the chair umpire, asking for a break. The umpire then decided to suspend the match due to the heat rule, and the roof was closed.

It was a lifesaver for Sinner, who, relieved, began to show signs of recovery. He improved little by little while his opponent, until that moment impeccable, was not the same after the interruption.

More errors, more tension. Sinner clung to that and to his good serve, which acted as a lifeline in a match that looked like it was going badly.

Before thinking about his next match in the coming week, against his compatriot Luciano Darderi, who defeated Karen Khachanov 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, the world no. 2 will undoubtedly be reflecting on the predicament he narrowly escaped in Melbourne.

In fact, Sinner had won his last 12 matches without dropping a set, since defeating Alexander Zverev in three sets in the Vienna final last year.

But his 15th consecutive victory at the Australian Open, and 18th in a row on the circuit, was full of suffering and drama.

Sinner lost the first set despite having leads of 2-0 and 4-0. Spizzirri, who had never been in this situation in a Grand Slam, pushed hard and achieved a 4-0 lead that gave him the first set. It seemed like a slip-up from the Italian, who fought back in the second set, which he won convincingly, but everything changed afterwards.

Sinner started to feel unwell, suffering excessively from the heat and suddenly found himself 3-1 down while having to stretch his legs and move around. He was struggling. The heat rule and the closing of the roof saved him as he started to turn things around.

Spizzirri did not take advantage of the champion’s difficulties, and every time he managed a break, he failed to consolidate it. Sinner held on to the match, trailing 3-1 in the third and fourth sets, and came back. He ultimately won the match but with great difficulty.

Sinner reached the round of 16 for the fifth time, becoming the first Italian to do so.

After a smooth start to the tournament, with comfortable victories over Hugo Gaston and James Duckworth, the setbacks came against Spizzirri, one of the revelations of the event.

The Italian had never lost to an opponent ranked so low, number 85, who seriously threatened his chances of becoming the fifth player in the Open Era to win three titles in Australia, and the fourth in history to do so consecutively.

“You know, with the leg, then I got in into the arm. So I was cramping a bit all over. But, you know, this is the sport. I know this is an area where I where I need to improve, we try to work on every day. I have a great team behind me who is pushing me in the right direction,” Sinner said on the court.

“But in the same time tennis is a very mental game. I just try to stay calm then we see. I’m here to fight. I’m here to play every point in the best possible way. Today we saw the outcome that even not playing at my best, I try to do my best,” he told the interviewer who asked him if he was going to request that the roof be closed for every match.

“It would be great for me. At the same time I know if I want to go far in this tournament I also need to play in warm and hot conditions. It’s not only here, it’s for the rest of the season,” said the Italian, who is aiming for his fifth Grand Slam title and acknowledged that closing the roof saved him from defeat. EFE

apa/pd