Sinner, bitter defeat in Montecarlo: Rublev-Rune final
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It is a burning defeat, that of Jannik Sinner in Montecarlo in the semifinal against Holger Rune. Not only because, without Alcaraz and Djokovic (eliminated by Musetti), the moment seemed propitious to grab the first Masters 1000 of his career, but also because of how the match had started: a lightning 6-1 in his favor, in 31 minutes, with the opponent stunned by his lunges and fouled.
But at the beginning of the second set, the music changes, with a surprising 3 to 0 for the Dane thanks to a series of errors (sometimes trivial) by Jannik, who didn’t seem like the same player he was a few minutes earlier. The rain, at 7.15 pm, stopped a parable that was repeating – in reverse – that of the first set. Players in the locker room, it resumes at 20: Rune’s run is broken at 5-3, when he loses his serve (he had already canceled a break point at 3-1) and Sinner is back in a tie at 5 all, after having conceded two set points. At this point Rune, very nervous, engages in a fight with the audience, raising the tension level, and takes home the set 7-5, with fury.
A finale full of tension and beautiful tennis
The match, not beautiful and marked by several errors, rises qualitatively. The third set opens with the Dane serving, and from 1 to 0 Sinner will constantly chase him, even though he struggles to keep his turn to serve and never manages to seriously worry his opponent when he serves.
Rune appears lucid and confident in the choices and in the game variations (many short balls that have given him points). The Italian holds firm, shows beautiful shots (such as recovering from a lob with a spectacular backhand pass)… but over time the serve is no longer a weapon (only 56% of first balls), the fatigue increases, while Rune grinds points with the audacity of someone who doesn’t feel the tension and freshness of someone who has been playing for ten minutes. He finishes 7-5. The feeling is that of a fair verdict, however bitter indeed.
Today the Rublev-Rune final
Too bad for the first Italian tennis player, number 8 in the world, who has been coming for decidedly positive months, with the semifinal in Indian Wells (lost to Alcaraz) and the final in Miami (conquered after a memorable match with the Spaniard, but lost to Medvedev ). Next week it starts again in Barcelona, where he will be seeded number 4. Today Rune will face Andrey Rublev, who got the better of Taylor Fritz in the other semifinal 5-7, 6-1, 6-3. At 2.30 pm on Sky.
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