By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Jannik Sinner’s ultimate rise in the sport of lawn tennis is still on full display after beating Alex de Minaur- 7.5, 6.4- to clinch the championship trophy in the Rotterdam Open last February 18, 2024.
Despite a draining championship campaign in the 2024 Australian Open a month ago, Sinner showed there’s still enough gas left in the tank after sweeping de Minaur in the grand finals of the ATP major tournament.
Sinner started slow in the championship match but recovered late in the first set to stun de Minaur who was playing one of his best tennis performances of the tournament.
De Minaur was on his A-game against Sinner and even dominated the service ace department but the recently crowned Australian Open king countered with his more diverse offensive approach.
From a powerful service return, Sinner decided to put the first ball in in the middle and setup his attack with his second forehand return.
With his patience in dealing with de Minaur’s booming service game improved, his shot selection also made the difference at the start of the second set.
Sinner opted to attack the net to disrupt de Minaur’s hitting rhythm in the baseline which paid off big time in the final four game sets and steered him to a match point.
With the win, Sinner is bound to become the ATP’s world no. 3 male tennis player and is now Italy’s highest-ranked ace in the history of the sport.
Before setting up a grand final clash against de Minaur, Sinner only dropped a single set in four matches and finished the tournament with four sweeping victories.
