Jannik Sinner came back from the brink at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Tuesday.
The fourth seed saved three match points in a nail-biting second-set tie-break to defeat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-3 in the first round of the ATP 500 event.
“It was a very tough match,” said Sinner after completing the comeback. “I know him [Davidovich Fokina], but we’ve never played against each other. It was the first time for both of us and it was a tricky one, saving three match points. On the first one I got lucky because it was out, but not so far [out].”
Despite struggling for rhythm for much of the match, the World No. 10 upped his level late on to surge to victory in his first ATP Head2Head meeting with the Spanish World No. 43.
After a tight start Davidovich Fokina broke through late in the first set, converting the first break point of the match for 5-4 and then taking the set after Sinner sent a forehand long.
The match hinged on the second set tie-break. A previously under-par Sinner left it to the last possible moment to come out firing, reeling off five points in a row to recover from 6/3 down and force a third set.
The momentum shift was complete as the Italian kicked on in the decider. He secured a break for 4-2 before serving out for victory, letting out a roar of approval after converting his second match point. Sinner's comeback was powered by consistent serving, the five-time ATP Tour-titlist ending the match having won 78 per cent (46/59) of points behind his first delivery.
The Italian, who last week announced Simone Vagnozzi as his new coach, was pleased to continue his good form from January when he reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open. “It was a great start to the season,” he said. “I played well in Australia, now I’ve had some time off, changed some things and obviously I always try to go on court and try to improve. That’s my main goal, so let’s see how it goes.”
Sinner, who made the quarter-finals in Dubai in 2021, now plays former World No. 1 Andy Murray in the second round. Murray won their only previous meeting in straight sets in Stockholm in November.
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Second seed Andrey Rublev got his bid to earn consecutive ATP Tour titles off to a strong start as he snapped a two-match losing streak against Daniel Evans with a 6-4, 7-5 victory.
The Russian looked in a confident mood after claiming both the singles and doubles (w/Denys Molchanov) titles in Marseille last week, crashing 28 winners including eight aces to overcome the Brit in an entertaining one-hour, 36 minute first-round battle.
A flurry of three consecutive breaks at the tail end of the first set ended with the World No. 7 converting his first set point. He needed more opportunities to finish off the second set, however, Evans saving six match points before Rublev produced a stunning forehand pass on the seventh to seal the win.
Got there in the end ????@AndreyRublev97 takes his seventh match point to defeat Evans 6-4 7-5 in Dubai!#DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/2aREWLhceh
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 22, 2022
Rublev’s next opponent will be World No. 60 Soonwoo Kwon, after the South Korean brushed past Ilya Ivashka 6-3, 6-2.
Defending champion Aslan Karatsev earlier suffered a shock first-round exit at the hands of American Mackenzie McDonald.
The Russian won the pair’s first meeting in the second round of January’s Australian Open, but the World No. 61 showed no fear in Dubai as he broke Karatsev four times on the way to a 7-5, 6-3 victory. McDonald now faces Filip Krajinovic in the second round after the Serbian completed a 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4 comeback win over Malek Jaziri.
