Jannik Sinner loses the Rotterdam final in three sets, but does not leave the field defeated.
Two hours and 29 minutes of fighting with Daniil Medvedev showed that he is close to full maturity and that it is no coincidence that he has reached two consecutive ATP finals.
In Montpellier he had won, in Holland he battled on equal terms (besides what the result says: 7-5, 2-6, 2-6) with an opponent of great depth, who better than him knew how to exploit the weapon of service .
"Congratulations to Daniil, he played a great tournament. It's been two positive weeks, I'm proud of how I played - commented Sinner - I tried to do my best, I'll try again next year".
Tomorrow he will rise to No. 12 in the ranking.
The match opened with Sinner batting.
Prolonged rallies from the bottom - with rare drops to the net and sudden muffs,
favorite shot by the Italian to break the pace of the Russian - they were the trace of the first games.
Both kept their serve advantage until the fourth, when the South Tyrolean got the first break and moved up 3-1.
The following game was very fought, in which Medvedev had the ball of the counter break that Sinner canceled with three excellent firsts, to go 4-1.
But in the seventh game the pursuit of the Russian, more incisive in shots along the line, was rewarded by bringing him up 4-3.
Medvedev accelerated again, up to impact on 4 all.
Service advantage kept by both until the 11th game.
At 6-5 in his favor, Sinner put pressure on his rival, who missed the first two points, giving away the 0-30.
With two aces Medvedev recovered, but we still went to the advantage.
Jannik defended very well, finding crossings of the lines and with the smash he earned the set point: immediately on goal, he won 7-5 in 67' of battle.
Medved's reaction was vehement and the Russian immediately took the lead to 2-0 breaking Sinner's serve.
He has raised the pace again, increasing the aggressiveness of the shots and putting the blue in difficulty.
It is the most difficult moment of the meeting for him.
He lost his serve again with a double fault and it's 4-1.
Medvedev found himself 0-40, but with his serve he went up to 40 all to fly 5-1.
He comes within two points of 1-1, but in the end Sinner saved his innings.
There are no more breaks and the second set ended 2-6 after 38'.
Since the beginning of the match, Medvedev has gradually gone from 62 to 74% of first serves.
Sinner suffers the break in the third game and the opponent is ahead 2-1.
The blue has nothing to reproach himself for commitment and earns two balls from the counter break, which however Medvedev cancels thanks to the goodness of the first, which helps him in difficult moments.
At 3-1 in his own favor the Russian produced the maximum effort, putting even more weight in the shots and his excellent backhand is the extra weapon.
Sinner doesn't give up and stays in contact: 3-2.
But now he has to take bigger and bigger risks to hit back and keep up with the shots coming from the other side of the net.
Medvedev has more experience in finals, he knows it's time for a turning point, he gets the second break and at 5-2 in his favor he goes to beat for the match, which he closes without conceding anything.
the blue has nothing to reproach for his commitment and earns two balls in the counter break, which however Medvedev cancels thanks to the goodness of the first, which helps him in difficult moments.
At 3-1 in his own favor the Russian produced the maximum effort, putting even more weight in the shots and his excellent backhand is the extra weapon.
Sinner doesn't give up and stays in contact: 3-2.
But now he has to take bigger and bigger risks to hit back and keep up with the shots coming from the other side of the net.
Medvedev has more experience in finals, he knows it's time for a turning point, he gets the second break and at 5-2 in his favor he goes to beat for the match, which he closes without conceding anything.
the blue has nothing to reproach for his commitment and earns two balls in the counter break, which however Medvedev cancels thanks to the goodness of the first, which helps him in difficult moments.
At 3-1 in his own favor the Russian produced the maximum effort, putting even more weight in the shots and his excellent backhand is the extra weapon.
Sinner doesn't give up and stays in contact: 3-2.
But now he has to take bigger and bigger risks to hit back and keep up with the shots coming from the other side of the net.
Medvedev has more experience in finals, he knows it's time for a turning point, he gets the second break and at 5-2 in his favor he goes to hit for the match, which he closes without conceding anything.
At 3-1 in his own favor the Russian produced the maximum effort, putting even more weight in the shots and his excellent backhand is the extra weapon.
Sinner doesn't give up and stays in contact: 3-2.
But now he has to take bigger and bigger risks to hit back and keep up with the shots coming from the other side of the net.
Medvedev has more experience in finals, he knows it's time for a turning point, he gets the second break and at 5-2 in his favor he hits for the match, which he closes without conceding anything.
At 3-1 in his own favor the Russian produced the maximum effort, putting even more weight in the shots and his excellent backhand is the extra weapon.
Sinner doesn't give up and stays in contact: 3-2.
But now he has to take bigger and bigger risks to hit back and keep up with the shots coming from the other side of the net.
Medvedev has more experience in finals, he knows it's time for a turning point, he gets the second break and at 5-2 in his favor he hits for the match, which he closes without conceding anything.