Winning with a hard-fought score of 5-7 (3-7), 6-4, and 6-2, after 2 hours and 39 minutes, Sinner shared that he had to compete in a poor physical condition, with feelings of great fatigue, but felt happy that right ahead would be… a day of rest!
“It was a really, really tough match, physically and mentally, so I’m really happy to get through it. I felt like, it was a really challenging match and I ended up losing it,” Sinner elaborated on the opening set.
“I had chances to win the opening set, but things like this can happen. Sometimes you have to wait for the next opportunity, which I did, trying to stay calm and today that was the key!”
“Tomorrow will be a day of rest, which is something I really needed right now, I felt the physical fatigue in today’s match. I didn’t take advantage of my chances in the first set, but I’m happy that I recovered from everything.”
In the fourth round, Sinner will wait to determine his next opponent. It will be Roberto Caballe Baena (Spain, ATP rank 54) or Ben Shelton (USA, ATP rank 16, seed number 14 of the tournament). But first, he needs to rest and recover his physical strength.
In another remarkable result, Daniil Medvedev (Russia, ATP No. 5) was angry, controlled his anger to defeat Matteo Arnaldi (Italy, ATP No. 36) with a score of 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 after 2 hours and 45 minutes. Medvedev was penalized twice and deducted points for arguing with the umpire in the second set, when he was under strong pressure from his Italian opponent.
Medvedev admitted: “I was expecting him to play differently. He played very well. And honestly, in the first set, I should have done better. The second set and the second set were much closer. But in the end, I am happy to win.”
Medvedev has also booked his place in the fourth round and is waiting to determine his next opponent. It will be the winner of the match between Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece, ATP rank 12) and Alexander Muller (from France, ATP rank 74). There is a high possibility that Tsitsipas will win this match…
Earlier, Novak Djokovic also “entered the field” yesterday and went through a tough battle against Alex Michelsen (USA, ATP rank 43). Djokovic had to defeat a very tough opponent in 2 tie-breaks with scores of 7-3 and 11-9, in which, he saved 2 set-point risks in the 2nd set before winning the match.
*At the China Open (WTA Tour), Coco Gauff (USA, WTA No. 6) defeated Karolina Muchova (Czech Republic, WTA No. 49) with an overwhelming score of 6-1, 6-3 in the final; thereby, winning the second WTA 1,000 title of her career (she won the Cincinnati Open in 2023).