Turin | Fritz and Sinner Get Off the Mark

“[The serve was] definitely key in winning,” noted Fritz after his victory. “His returner is so effective; even when your serves don’t hit their targets well enough he keeps returning them all the same way – which was hugely important as I hit several lines to start out games quickly. It was incredible!” “[My service games were] played without pressure; even during those we found challenging, I managed to either grind out long rallies or generate free points.” Fritz saved three break points before seizing control in the sixth game of the second set to create an insurmountable lead and become unchallengeable in winning this set 6-2.” “[My first time here], as an alternate, no one expected much from me – there wasn’t as much pressure.” However, now as fifth seed in Group C5, she really wishes to advance from it all and out of group stage play. “My expectations of myself have increased because of how well I played today; however, when asked about Medvedev’s bizarre actions during their matchup, Fritz just smiled amicably before indulging a joke or two about his opponent.” Jannik Sinner launched his campaign with an impressive victory (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images), playing before his home crowd after taking time away due to illness or injury for over a month, defeating Australia’s Alex de Minaur 6-3 6-4 within 85 minutes to seal an eighth defeat of Sinner during this tournament. De Minaur had only managed to qualify for Turin after qualifying just over 24 hours prior to meeting Sinner for their inaugural encounter; unfortunately it failed him this time too and fell victim of Sinner’s relentless attacking play against De Minaur; no solution was forthcoming as de Minaur was no matchup against Sinner’s dominant performance; thus losing for what had seemed an eighth time against Sinner; instead it all turned into another solid performance from Italy’s Jannik Sinner in Turin after 85-minutes! De Minaur lost 8 times out-match against Sinner before finally breaking through and falling to defeat for only his debut appearance; Sinner said of his performance on Day 1, noting it as “an outstanding start for this event and tournament considering I hadn’t competed officially for four weeks. I am extremely satisfied.” Jannik Sinner shakes hands with Alex de Minaur after their match has finished (Photo by Tullio Puglia/Getty Images)”.Playing against Alex is always tough – he is such an experienced competitor that you need to earn every point you score against him.” Every time we play together, my opponent changes something about his style of play that requires me to remain alert at all times. It can be extremely challenging; not only must we consider results as we play our match together but also take note of its overall flow and how our opponent performs against other teams. Sinner who will face Fritz next, commented on their earlier match by noting a number of improvements by Fritz over recent months and years: his serve has greatly improved while hitting hard is very impressive; and as an opponent I must play at my highest to have any chance at victory or coming close; practicing against him earlier in the week was very tough but hopefully, that I was able to raise my level as we’ll soon find out.”