In the Italian derby at the ATP 500 in Vienna the South Tyrolean won in two sets, but the Roman played a great match. Now Jannik will face Bublik in the quarterfinals
Almost two hours of spectacular tennis to the delight of the spectators at the ATP 500 in Vienna. Two Italians on the field: Jannik Sinner and Flavio Cobolli who brought out the best of their repertoire with exciting rallies and shots seemingly impossible for mere mortals. Sinner was the favorite and in the end he imposed his superioritybut in the tie-break that concluded the match he had to extract an impossible backhand from the center of the court that ended up at the top corner and an excellent percentage of first balls on serve.
Without fear
Cobolli was facing Jannik for the first time, but he played without fear, challenging the world number two on his own turf: terrible groundstrokes, great mobility and a powerful and precise serve. But in the first set it wasn’t enough to stay in the match, even if the final 6-2 is too harsh towards the Roman. Sinner played the decisive points of the first set with intelligence and coolness but then in the second the balance was never broken and the match dragged on until the tie-break. Even balance until 3-3 then Cobolli ran into a double fault and a backhand winner from Sinner definitively directed the match closed by the number two in the world with a serve to the body that surprised Cobolli. Sinner confirmed that he is in a great moment and that he particularly likes the fast surface of Vienna, but Cobolli played a great match proving that he is continually improving. For Sinner, seventeenth victory against an Italian, no compatriot has ever beaten him. Now in the quarterfinals he will face the Russian Aleksandr Bublik.
