Tennis, Indian Wells: Isner retires, Sinner is already in the second round. Will it be a derby with Berrettini?

Jannik takes advantage of the retirement of the American who chooses the family: he will be next to his wife during the birth. The double of Isner-Sock against Fognini-Sonego also jumps: thus also the blue couple advances

In Indian Wells it could be time for a fascinating first time for Italian tennis. The conditional is a must, because if Jannik Sinner, thanks to the retirement of John Isner, is already in the second round, Matteo Berrettini still has to get the better of the other American Taylor Fritz.

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The delivery room beats the field

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The American’s step backwards? Family reasons: his choice, in fact, was to be next to his wife during the birth of their third child: “I have to be with my family – he said – it is much more important than tennis”. In any case, there is the possibility of an all-Italian eighth final, extremely tasty and unprecedented: Sinner and Berrettini would face each other for the first time in their career.

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Third round

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Without forgetting Fabio Fognini: on Tuesday for the Ligurian there will be a very complicated challenge to Stefanos Tsitsipas, seeded number 2 on the scoreboard. Fognini will need a feat to reach the round of 16, while for Berrettini the task is much easier, at least on paper: the Italian has a better ranking than his rival, world number 39 Taylor Fritz. And just Fognini thanks together with Sonego: Isner’s forfeit, in fact, blows up the challenge against the couple he formed with Jack Sock, making the blue couple advance without taking the field.

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Sinner e la race

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The mind can only go to the hypothetical challenge between Sinner and Berrettini, two almost opposite expressions of tennis: on the one hand the predestined and champion of precocity, on the other the player who grew up in silence, with a gradual and constant climb to the top of world tennis. The South Tyrolean has already won four career titles, three of which in 2021: Melbourne 1 at the beginning of the season, then the 500 in Washington and an encore in Sofia within a couple of months. Sinner is expressing his best tennis and is hungry for points to try to hit the ATP Finals in Turin: the race is on Hubi Hurkacz, ahead of almost 270 points and next opponent of Frances Tiafoe in the third round of Indian Wells.

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Berrettini and the precedents

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Berrettini, on the other hand, is one step away from the mathematical certainty of entering the top eight players of the race: the Roman is currently sixth (fifth considering Nadal’s forfeit) and has a huge advantage over his pursuers. Before the eventual challenge to Sinner, Vincenzo Santopadre’s pupil will deal with that Fritz who beat him in 2019 in the Davis Cup, in the only precedent between the two.

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