beats Cressy 7-6, 6-3, first success of 2023- Corriere.it

Sinner returned Winner. In Montpellier, Jannik won the seventh ATP title of his career, returning to triumph as it hadn’t happened since July, in Umag. That day, Carlos Alcaraz was in front; this time, in the French ATP 250, Sinner got the better of the giant (201 cm) Maxime Cressy, who reached the final in both singles and doubles. Sinner won 7-6 6-3 in one hour and 36′, confirming himself practically infallible in the decisive appointments, given that in the major circuit Jannik has always won in the final except in Miami in 2021 against Hurkacz. Before Montpellier, Sinner had won twice in Sofia, once in Antwerp, Melbourne, Washington and, indeed, Umag, to which is added the triumph in the Next Gen Atp Finals of 2019: all joys on hard surfaces, with the exception of the land of Umag.

Cressy, number 51 in the world but who was also number 31 as best ranking, remained one of the few to constantly play serve and volley, changes the racket according to whether he has to serve or receive and must be faced with patience, waiting for cracks to open in his service rounds. It could have happened already in the first game, but the French naturalized American canceled them, and Sinner did the same with three opportunities for the opponent in the fourth game. You then went straight up to a masterful tiebreak, in which Cressy’s double fault in the first point was decisive: a wrong volley (4-0) then did the rest, before Jannik closed in with an uncatchable forehand.

Five break points in the first set, two in the second, both for Sinner in the seventh game: the first, Cressy canceled it with a second serve at 182 km/h, while on the second Jannik forced the opponent into a difficult volley and placed in the corridor. And another goal put an end to the match, giving Sinner the fourth indoor trophy after the two in Sofia and the one in Antwerp, as well as overtaking Tiafoe in the ranking that will make him number 14 from tomorrow. To be honest, the first key was to keep the serve – the words of Sinner, who finished with 87% of points won with the first and the 70% with the second —. In the first set tiebreak I tried to take advantage of his mistakes. The second set, however, was different: I managed to take the break and win the match. After Montpellier, Sinner will move to Holland to play the ATP 500 in Rotterdam. This is also indoors.