Sinner Saves Three MPs, Survives Paul Duel In Madrid

Jannik Sinner clinched the win on Monday at the Mutua Madrid Open, but the 10th seed had to come back from the brink against Tommy Paul at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

Paul let slip two match points when serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set and another at 6-5 on the Sinner serve in the Spanish capital. The Italian upped his level at crucial moments to bounce back for a dramatic three-hour win.

Sinner is yet to reach a semi-final in 2022 but has shown good form at some of the biggest events this year, reaching the quarter-finals at the Australian Open and the Masters 1000 events in Miami and Monte Carlo. The Italian will hope his hard-fought win over Paul can be the catalyst for a deep run at the Caja Magica, where he holds a 1-1 match record.

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Things were running smoothly for Sinner early as he dominated from deep in the opening stages on Manolo Santana Stadium, but Paul admirably stuck with his opponent. The American began to settle into the pair’s first ATP Head2Head meeting and recovered 2-4 to force a first-set tie-break, which he took comfortably after opening an unassailable 5/0 lead.

Paul continued to strike the ball cleanly and show imagination when coming forward, but the momentum of the match changed when the American served for it at 5-3 in the second. Sinner ripped a series of blistering forehands to reclaim the break and then fended off another match point to force a tie-break.

Dropping the HAMMER 🔨@janniksin swinging from the shoulder to stay alive in Madrid!#MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/v3hd9CAxYC

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 2, 2022

The 20-year-old looked to have found his range and after claiming the tie-break to level the match, he began to find searing winners off both wings to clinch an intriguing encounter 6-3 in the final set. A powerful serving performance aided the Italian when other parts of his game weren’t firing — he struck eight aces and won 72 per cent (46/64) of points behind his first delivery, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Sinner now faces a second-round meeting with Alex de Minaur, who earlier defeated home favourite Pedro Martinez, 7-6(2), 1-6, 6-3. Sinner holds a 3-0 ATP Head2Head series lead over the 23-year-old Australian, a record that includes a straight-sets win for the Italian in the fourth round of the Australian Open in January.