2023-10-30 00:56:07
The South Tyrolean stops last year’s winner at the ATP tournament in Vienna after a fight of over three hours.
The great triumphant of the Erste Bank Open 2023 is called Jannik Sinner. The 22-year-old Italian defeated the top-seeded, Russian defending champion Daniil Medvedev 7:6 (7), 4:6, 6:3 in the final on Sunday afternoon in a tennis thriller that lasted 3:04 hours and thus won his tenth ATP title, the fourth this season.
Epic exchange of blows at the highest level
In the final of the ATP 500 tournament, worth 2,559,790 euros, the 9,600 spectators in the newly sold-out Wiener Stadthalle were treated to an epic exchange of blows at the highest level from the first rally onwards, in which Medvedev, third in the world rankings, broke 3 in the first set: 1 took the lead. But Sinner responded immediately with a rebreak to zero, fended off a set point before and in the tiebreak and ultimately had the better end for himself after his second set point was used, 9:7. In the second section, Medvedev got breaks to make it 3:2 and 5:2. A loss of serve by the defending champion to make it 5:3 was no longer of decisive importance; Medvedev used the second chance on his own service to equalize the set.
In the third round the final game could no longer be surpassed in terms of tension. In the fourth game, after 20 minutes of play, Sinner used his ninth break point to take a 3-1 lead. Medvedev’s answer didn’t take long to arrive with the rebreak to make it 2:3, but the tournament’s number two immediately took the service away from Medvedev to make it 4:2. Sinner was then able to confirm his break by winning serve to take a 5-2 lead. Medvedev fended off a match point on his own serve, but one game later the game was over after 3:04 hours after Sinner was able to make it 15:40 with his service.
Sinner: “I will certainly remember the match for a long time”
“I will definitely remember this match for a long time. It was an extremely difficult game mentally and physically. It was definitely one of my best matches – it’s hard to say whether it was the best because every game is different. But to play at such a level in a final is very special,” said Sinner, who was rewarded for his tenth ATP triumph with 500 points for the world rankings and a winner’s check worth 450,650 euros. Already at the award ceremony, the South Tyrolean promised to come back to Vienna next year, and at the subsequent press conference he made this more concrete: “This is a great tournament, and they helped me with a wild card when I was knocked out of the ranking would not have come into the field before. I was always looked after well in Vienna. I feel very, very comfortable here. My family and many friends were there this week. The tournament will also be very important for me in the coming years,” said Sinner.
Due to the high level in the final, Medvedev’s disappointment about the defeat was limited: “On the whole, it was a great match from which we can both take a lot of self-confidence for the future. In the third set I felt the fatigue a little more. He was still able to play great balls while running, that was no longer the case for me,” said Medvedev, who also gave the Erste Bank Open an excellent report: “I like Vienna, the tournament, the food, the hotel, and I always play well here – so I’ll probably come back again.”
Ram/Salisbury triumph in doubles for the second time
Victory in the doubles competition went to the American Rajeev Ram (ATP double 7) and the British Joe Salisbury (ATP double 8). In the title fight, the reigning, three-time US Open winners in a row defeated the US duo Nathaniel Lammons (ATP double 28) and Jackson Withrow (ATP double 26) 6:4 in the all-important match tiebreak after being 3:6 behind , 5:7, 12:10, used their fourth match point and celebrated their second joint Vienna coup after 2019.
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