Sinner-Shelton, return to the future (Lorenzo Ercoli, Corriere dello Sport)
Jannik was what Ben is, who knows if Shelton will one day be what Sinner is. A year later, in the shadow of the skyscrapers of the “Pearl of the Orient”, the fascinating challenge between the blue and the stars and stripes sensation returns. Wake up early, croissant, cappuccino and tennis for the round of 16 of the Masters 1000 in Shanghai, which will open the Centrale program at 6.30 am Italian time. Next, it will be Alcaraz’s turn against Monfils and Djokovic against Safiullin. The match with the American is anything but a given and, above all, it will be an opportunity to avenge last season’s defeat, which occurred in the round of 16. From Shelton to Shelton: from 10 October 2023 to today’s 9 October 2024, a perfect fit to take stock of the last 365 days of the champion from Sesto. «I have great memories of last year’s match, since then I think I’ve watched the highlights at least a couple of times – Shelton candidly admitted after the 6-3 6-4 success over Carballes Baena – Playing against the best in the world is always a great opportunity: Jannik is number 1 and has won two Slams this year». Last season was one of Jannik’s last missteps who, without seeking justifications, on that occasion paid for the efforts of the triumph in Beijing the week before. […] After two not very brilliant matches with Giron and Baez, the South Tyrolean fell under the blows of Shelton, but without going that far from success (2-6 6-3 7-6). Since that moment, Jannik has never lost a match against a rival outside the top fifteen positions in the world rankings, even if, ironically, he appears on the field today after two outings that have exposed the efforts of the previous match in the capital Chinese. This time the rain came to his rescue, giving him an extra day of rest and instead prolonging Shelton’s wait, who was only able to complete the Carballes procedure yesterday. […] In the last two matches, Sinner was able to neutralize the American’s tennis, who however, in the single match, still has the weapons to attempt the coup. The maximum yield of the excellent service, the ability to reach a high pace and the combativeness of those who are not afraid of these events are three of the possible keys to trying to overturn the forecast. In the long term, however, the class of 2002 will have to work on some limits, as Sinner did no more than two years ago. After his rapid climb into the top twenty, now as number 16 in the world, Shelton must refine himself to aim for the top. Barring surprises, it will only be a matter of time.
Djokovic takes center stage. Cobolli, a hard lesson (Roberto Bertellino, Tuttosport)
Flavio Cobolli bowed in the second round of the Masters 1000 in Shanghai, significantly behind schedule due to the rain which only stopped falling yesterday, to the master and his idol since he was a boy Novak Djokovic, who is chasing his 100th in the Chinese tournament career title. the young Roman, who made a great leap in quality this year, had said on the eve of wanting to enjoy every point of the challenge. Unfortunately he didn’t play many because Nole was devastating on one of those days of divine inspiration in which everything succeeds and the opponents are forced to act as extras. Match lasted an hour and a minute in which Cobolli played an almost equal match only in the initial four games of the second set (2-2). Before and after only Djokovic, perfect at serve, in response and in acceleration, especially with forehand. «I prepared the match well, I knew which tactic to adopt – said the Serbian player immediately -. I’m happy with my tennis after the somewhat rusty first round. I’m fresh, also because I’ve only played an hour and I’m ready for the next step». Djokovic will return to the match today, at 12.30 pm Italian time, against the Russian Roman Safiullin, who yesterday won in the tie-break of the decisive set against the American Frances Trafoe, who was ultimately furious with the chair umpire and is now at risk of disqualification. After shaking hands with his opponent, the American went towards the referee and harshly addressed him, with a “vaff… vaff… man. Seriously: fuck…, you fucking idiot! You ruined the game! Do your fucking job! I’ve been fighting and running for my life for three hours». Repeated and clear phrases that resonated throughout the stadium. Safiullin himself headed towards the changing rooms with his head bowed, as did the American. The trigger, according to him, was a call at 5-5 in the third set tie-break for not respecting the 25 second time limit. Tiafoe had to serve the second ball and lost the point, thus the next handing the victory to Safiullin. Intemperances to which he is not new. He took a risk but in the end the number 2 seed, Alexander Zverev, rose to the top sixteen of the lot. Opposing the Dutch Tallon Griekspoor, the German (still recovering from pneumonia) also won in the tie-break of the third set, by 7 points to 5 and after having been ahead 5-1. Griekspoor almost recovered the deficit (5-6) but sank a not impossible volley into the net in the last point, suffering yet another career defeat against Zverev who leads 5-1 in previous games. […]
Sinner driver is in good company. Italtennis now flies (Paolo Bertolucci, La Gazzetta dello Sport)
Maybe it’s because for many years we were forced to admire only the great foreign champions. Maybe it’s because apart from a few exploits at the male level we struggled to emerge in the world men’s rankings and that only the girls achieved significant successes. Maybe it’s because tennis, as an international sport, seemed unsuitable to be digested by the provincial Italian mentality, but even today, after a year spent on the roller coaster of victories, we struggle to accept this new status derived from the intense scent of success. In the wake of the talented but unfortunately inconsistent Fabio Fognini, Italian tennis had started moving in the right direction, taking off the modest and inconspicuous clothes, to instead wear the glittering and shining ones that are admired under the spotlights of the world. The Davis Cup triumph sealed this turning point and served to unite a winning group like this even more. Jannik Sinner is certainly the spearhead of a continuously growing movement and present in the top ten in both singles and doubles, with men and women. In the wake of the world number one, not only in the men’s sector but also in the women’s sector, young tennis players who are well physically structured, technically equipped and willing to get involved, ready to travel from one continent to another, have hit the headlines. In the last twelve months, practically, during every weekend at least one of our representatives has found himself involved in the final stages of tournaments around the world. The sum of all these results has thus allowed our tennis movement to achieve a result that was simply inconceivable even to imagine until a few years ago. In fact, in this autumn 2024 we will be present at the Finals both at the men’s level with Jannik Sinner and the doubles Simone Bolelli-Andrea Vavassori, and at the women’s level with Jasmine Paolini in the singles and paired with Sara Errani in the women’s. The even more incredible fact will be that the Italians will not limit themselves to simple participation, a mere catwalk, but will be at the starting line with very specific ambitions, to be, in short, absolute protagonists in all the matches. […] As an old tennis voyeur, I feel like I’m living a dream and I only ask those responsible not to wake me up…
Tiafoe beside himself. Insults to the referee after the defeat (Federica Cocchi, La Gazzetta dello Sport)
The air in Shanghai under the grid is electric, could it be the fault of the storms of the last few days? Yesterday was the day of tennis players on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Starting with Frances Tiafoe, always over the top but this time really furious. The 26-year-old American lost his mind after the third round defeat against Roman Safiullin in a match that ended on the wire (5-7 7-5 7-6) and is now at great risk. Tiafoe lashed out at the chair umpire, Jimmy Pinoargote: «Fuck…fuck…man. Seriously, fuck… you fucking idiot. You ruined the game! Do your fucking job! I’ve been fighting and running for my life for three hours!». The reaction was triggered by a time violation called at 5-5 in the final tie break. Frances had already received the warning and then lost her first serve because the shot clock had expired. Tiafoe had tried to beat the clock and avoid the penalty by throwing the ball to serve but without being ready to hit. His was not judged as a bad throw, but as a waste of time. From there, the madness which was followed by social apologies to the public, referee and rival. A few minutes after the “Tiafoe Case”, Sascha Zverev also had a disagreement with the chair umpire, the legendary Mohamed Lahyani, in the match won in the tiebreak of the third against Tallon Griekspoor. In the first set, at 5-5 and ahead, the German ran forward to recover a rebound, but was challenged for the double bounce. From there, open heaven: «I hit the ball clean, you are doing damage in this tournament. What Bernardes did (the judge who mistakenly gave a Wawrinka point to our Flavio Cobolli, ed.), what happened to Tiafoe… I come to China after nine months of tournaments and you behave like this?», said Zverev. Obviously, with racket launch included. It’s a shame, however, that the replay showed that Lahyani was right: a warning for Sascha, without going any further fortunately. […]