Jannik Sinner once again demonstrated his great mental resilience
Victory with the thrill and danger escaped. Jannik Sinner’s debut at the Atp 500 in Halle, in the first match of the world’s number one, was a rather complicated grass season. The Italian tennis player had to work harder than expected against an always insidious Tallon Griekspoor, recovering a set of disadvantage and closing with a score of 6-7(8) 6-3 6-2, after 2 hours and 19 minutes of great tennis.
The 22-year-old Italian has been able to resist in times of difficulty, canceling three dangerous break balls in the partial second and showing off plays as a true champion, and exploited the decline of the Dutch tennis player to get to the next round.
With this success, the native of San Candido avoided entering an enviable circle of numbers one defeated in the first appearance after conquering the head of the ATP ranking. Let’s find out who I am.
Jannik Sinner risked a lot
Jannik Sinner once again demonstrated his great mental resilience. Among the four number one to share this negative record, the most recent is Carlos Alcaraz.
The three-time Grand Slam champion in 2022 won the men’s lead for the first time, but was defeated in the Davis Cup by Felix Auger Aliassime a few weeks later.
A record shared with his coach. In 2005 Juan Carlos Ferrero, fresh from the top of the standings, was defeated by Andreas Seppi. Also for the Spaniard, the Davis Cup was fatal. Before the two Iberians, we must go back to 12 February 1996, when the Austrian Thomas Muster surrendered in the first round of the tournament in Dubai by Sandon Stolle.
The fourth and final protagonist of this circle is a true legend. On March 2, 1980, John McEnroe took first place. Five days later, in a competition that seems almost cursed for the number one, the Davis Cup, the American was beaten by the Argentine José Luis Clerc. Another 17 days went by, and McEnroe left the top of the list, overtaken by Bjorn Borg.