Sinner, Arnaldi and Cocciaretto: Italy «beats Russia» 3-0
Italy beats Russia 3-0. A triple overwhelming success: first Elisabetta Cocciaretto against Ljudmila Samsonova, then Matteo Arnaldi against Andrej Rublev, finally Jannik Sinner against Pavel Kotov. The three Italians at Roland Garros are all in the round of 16, with Jasmine Paolini and especially Lorenzo Musetti who can join tomorrow. And if Musetti did it, it would be the guarantee of having an Italian number 1 in the world for the first time in history. While waiting for that day to arrive, Sinner continues to crush his opponents: today, after Eubanks and Gasquet, it was the turn of the Russian Kotov, beaten with a periodic 6-4 a month after having done the same thing in Madrid, but in a match at after which Sinner declared his hip problems.
At least seeing him move on the court, everything seems to be left behind: sinuous, elegant, but tremendously aggressive, Jannik took home the match by sipping the breaks, one per set. Kotov, with his mother in the stands this time without rackets to change the overgrip of (a very tender scene from recent days, which went around social media), gave it his all, but in long rallies he was another of the victims sacrifices of Sinner’s tentacles. The short balls played with great frequency seemed like a cry for help from a sinking ship: Jannik, however, conceded only one break point to his opponent at 3-2 in the second set in his favour. Now, in an area of the scoreboard in which the top seeds that presided over it have been eliminated (the Chilean Nicolas Jarry, finalist in Rome, and the Argentine Sebastian Baez) the one-on-one challenge between the Austrian Sebastian Ofner and the acrobatic French Corentin Moutet.
«The match was very different compared to Madrid – the words of the champion from Sesto -. I had a lot of fun and I also thank the audience at the Philippe Chatrier (among which, no longer hidden, there was also the new partner Anna Kalinskaya, ed.)”. Interviewing him on the court is the former tennis player Fabrice Santoro, the one who he played both forehand and backhand with two hands: he asks him curious questions, one about the difference in the weather conditions in these first three games. He played one on the Suzanne Lenglen (less huge than the central player), one in the evening, one in the day with the roof. given that the rain shows no signs of abating: “I have eight rackets in my bag – admits Jannik -, but I won’t change the tension otherwise I would think about it too much. Only in Madrid did we go up slightly”.
Another topic touched upon by Santoro was skiing: «Yes, it is tradition to ski at Christmas and the day after, but I have to be very careful. Tennis is definitely the priority, but skiing is in my blood.”
Last question of the interview, on fashion: “They (the brands that sponsor it, ed.) give me things to wear and I wear them, I try to look as good as possible: sometimes I succeed, sometimes less”, The role of champion, however, they fit him perfectly.
2024-05-31 23:10:00
#SinnerKotov #Roland #Garros #cronaca
