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Janic Sinner He said he would need to adapt to the “unusual” courts as he prepares for another tie at the Six Kings Slam in Saudi Arabia. novak djokovic,
Sinner won the opening round 6-2, 6-3 Stefanos Tsitsipas The Australian Open and Wimbledon champion’s first match since her retirement from the Shanghai Open earlier this month.
The Italian had some trouble defeating Tsitsipas as he repeatedly attacked the Greek’s one-handed backhand with his forehand.
But he said the ANB Arena court was temperamental, with the surface bouncing extremely high and wide on some kick-serves while being flat and slow during other rallies.
“It’s a very unusual indoor court,” Sinner said. “It’s a very interesting situation that we have to deal with here on the court because it’s quite bouncy, with the new balls it’s quite fast and with the used balls it gets slower.”
The court was extra busy as Sinner, who likes to slide on hard courts like his semifinal opponent Djokovic, received a lot of purchase as he raced up to a ball at the net and attempted to slide in a shot.
Sinner held double-break leads in both sets against Tsitsipas, who has a 6–3 win record against the four-time Grand Slam champion, but he could not defend his backhand from Sinner’s attacks.
“Of course, we’ve played several times already,” Sinner said. “As we become better players and we know each other’s games a little bit more, I also know a little bit more tactically how to prepare for a match. I just tried to be pretty aggressive, especially in the return games. I felt like I was serving pretty well in the key moments.”
If you include their meeting in last year’s Six Kings semi-finals, Sinner will be on his way to his seventh consecutive win against 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic. Sinner has won both the French Open and Wimbledon semi-finals against the 38-year-old this season.
“It’s a huge honor to play against a legend like Novak again,” Sinner said. “It’s great that he is still playing at the highest level of our game. He is a great role model. He is still hungry to win big titles and that is why he still keeps playing. Hopefully it will be interesting tomorrow.”