Jannik Sinner of momentum in the third round of the Australian Open; Rafa Nadal out, betrayed by pain in a hip. These are the two faces of the day in Melbourne, where the Australian Open also offered the small feat of Lucrezia Stefanini (n.141 WTA, coming from the qualifiers), capable of beating the German Tatjana Maria (3-6, 7-5 , 6-4), thus taking the first success in a Grand Slam draw. Next opponent the Russian Gracheva.
Instead, Lucia Bronzetti (ko with Laura Siegemund), Fabio Fognini (beaten by Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis) and Lorenzo Sonego (eliminated by Pole Hubert Hurkacz in five sets and after almost four hours of fighting) greeted the tournament. Less than two were enough for Sinner - current number 16 in the ATP ranking and the only Italian left in the men's draw - to demolish the Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry: score 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. In his career, the South Tyrolean had never won a match in the main draw of a Grand Slam, conceding just 7 games. In the 16/s he will face the Hungarian Marton Fucsovics. « I played excellent tennis, remaining constant throughout the match», commented Sinner, supported by a great serve. But the trump card was going to the net: scoring on 20 out of 22 occasions. "We've been working on it for some time. There are matches in which this tactic works better for me and others less so - he explained -. Other times I just should try it more often, but I still don't feel super safe around the net. Little by little I feel the volleys better and this gives me the confidence to try more often». Nadal limped off the court at Rod Laver Arena. “I couldn't hit a backhand or run, but I wanted to finish the game. As reigning champion, I didn't want to give up» , he said after the defeat against the American Mackenzie McDonald (6-4, 6-4, 7-5). With pain in his left hip since the end of the second set, the 36-year-old could only postpone an inevitable outcome as best he could, before confessing, in a fit of despondency: "I'm mentally destroyed, I wish I didn't have to stay out for months".
The Spaniard tried not to show emotion, but those who know him well were aware of his pain and when he went out, at 3-5 in the second set, to have his hip massaged, his wife Mary shed a few tears. A champion even in defeats, Nadal nonetheless complimented his opponent, adding that he hadn't considered abandoning himself: "The essence of sport is this: you try until the end, regardless of how many chances you have of succeeding". In the women's draw Iga Swiatek performed her task quickly and without wasting energy, reaching the third round at the expense of the Colombian Camilla Osorio (6-2, 6-3). "It was much more difficult than the score suggests," underlined the Pole, number one in the world. A semi-finalist in Melbourne last year, the 21-year-old will face Spain's Cristina Bucsa (#100) on Friday. The American Coco Gauff (n.7), avenger of the British Emma Raducanu (6-3, 7-6) advances safely.
