Australian Open: Sinner-Fucsovics 3-2, Jannik in the round of 16

We didn’t feel the need for another Italian in the fifth set in these Australian Open but Jannik Sinner, at least, gave us a victory. Wanted, sought, suffered. Against Marton Fucsovics, the Frecciarossa azzurra starts like a regional team but picks up speed in the final snagging a place in the round of 16 for the eighth time out of 13 participations, like Fognini and Panatta. He ends the match 4-6 4-6 6-1 6-2 6-0 in the Australian hot noon, under the midday heat. It’s a good thing that Jannik, with his 21 and a half years, doesn’t need to stay at home during the hot hours. It starts badly, which couldn’t be worse. He makes mistakes as much as possible, doesn’t find the first one, lends his side to Fucsovics who fields plays that have nothing to do with the number 78 in the world. Indeed, the roles seemed completely reversed. We still have Jannik, therefore, in the race for this Australian Open which has already seen Berrettini and Musetti exit, both in fifth place but without a happy ending. On the horizon is a rematch with Stefanos Tsitsipas, who scrambled him last year, sparking the crisis between Sinner and Piatti which led to the new technical guide Simone Vagnozzi. The first words after the victory: “The first two sets were very hard, I had to change something, I was imprecise in closing even though I felt the ball well. We did a lot of physical work in the off season and I managed to hold on well until the end” . In the last 3 sets he left just 3 games to the Hungarian: “I know him well, we often train together. I’m happy that my tactics worked”.

Slow start

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The first point is a double fault, and since the good morning starts in the morning, Jannik immediately loses his serve. Without losing heart he tries to impose his pace Sinner and the sculpted Hungarian, compared to CR7 for his muscles in HD, is unable to confirm the advantage. However, this does not mean that Fucsovics is an easily circumventable obstacle. He hits hard, shoots deep, and Sinner has to go three times to the advantages to bring home the 2-1. The first balls don’t assist him in these first games and the mistakes are a bit too many, 10 in the first four, and even in the 5th he gives up again, this time to zero for the Hungarian to make it 3-2. Jannik continues to give away too much with his forehand. In the ninth game he finally manages to keep the serve to zero, but he can’t hang up Fucsovics who closes the first set 6-4 in 51 minutes.

From bad to worse

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The second set also got off to a bad start between forehand errors, firsts that didn’t enter, too slow shifts and negative body language. A Sinner who seems not even a distant relative of the one seen in the second round match. Fucsovics is certainly more insidious opponent, but here it is Jannik who doesn’t turn. And in fact the break comes in the 3rd game. You need a jolt to avoid saying goodbye to even the last Italian left on the draw. But instead other mistakes arrive, and a resignation that doesn’t help. At 3-1 he goes under 0-30 with the third double fault. When he is on the edge of the precipice, as he has already shown on other occasions, Jannik wakes up and holds the serve and therefore the contact with the match. He gains confidence, recovers the break and goes up 3-3. The next round of service finally shows an orderly Jannik, forced in any case to very long exchanges, even 23 hits, but unlike before, he seems more on the ball and for the first time he is ahead in the score, 4-3. The dream didn’t last long, because the Hungarian on 4-4 snatches the serve to zero from the Italian again too foul. At 5-4, obviously, Fucsovics also closes the second set 6-4 with a one-handed backhand pass that doesn’t belong to his repertoire, but so be it.

Kidney stroke

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The numbers of the first two sets are merciless, even 31 free for Sinner and just 33 percent of points with the second. It is with this baggage that he still has to face a break point at the opening of the third. He saves himself but also in the third game it is a continuous and strenuous defense against other break points. Bad at serving, he almost never manages to command the exchange, but in the end he goes ahead 3-0 and even takes advantage of his rival’s slight drop to make another break and fly 4-0. A step away from the bagel, Fucsovics holds the serve and then wakes up with three counterbreak balls in the 7th game. At the third set point, Jannik wins 6-1. He’s still in the match, but the fourth set starts as badly as possible, a couple of mistakes by Sinner, and a very lucky ribbon at 40-40 lead to the Hungarian break. Immediately 2-0, but the reaction was immediate and Jannik was back on 2-1, and that’s not all. In the fifth game, with very tough exchanges, Sinner snatches the serve again from world number 78 and extends 3-2. The roles now seem reversed. Jannik commands and the Hungarian, with his vision blurred by fatigue, gives in to the speed of the Italian’s blows who takes another break for 5-2 and then closes 6-2. Everything is played in the fifth set where the Hungarian disappears from the field and crashes, 6-0.