Jannik Sinner has been quite the performer this year becoming one of only a few players that have already 30+ wins while yet to hit 10 losses.
The Italian has been a really strong performer this year with a few deep runs at events earlier this year. Lately, it's been a bit shaky with a disappointing Roland Garros exit and a somewhat shaky start on grass. He won his opening match on the surface against Bulbik but stumbled in the next one against Ruusuvuori in Den Bosch.
The Italian had a fabulous Wimbledon last year pushing Djokovic quite a bit. It was a demonstration of him being a great fit on grass and many expected him to take the next step this year. He will need to do a better job than at Roland Garros where he allowed pressure to impact him.
His first match since the loss in Den Bosch was against two-time Wimbledon semi-finalist Richard Gasquet at the 2023 Halle Open. It was a tricky matchup for Sinner but he once again proved very tough to beat in consecutive matches beating the French player in two sets.
Sinner was fabulous in the match never facing any problems on his serve in the opening set. He forced the first break points in the second service game of Gasquet and converted the second to take a 3-1 lead.
He had set points at 5-2 but had to wait for his next service game to finish things off 6-3. It was a good set, one where he dropped only one point behind his first serve even though he hit it only 50 % of the time.
The decisive factor was the ball-striking, one of the best on the ATP Tour and allowing him to have twice as many winners as Gasquet in the opening set 11>5. The second set opened a bit shaky for both players as both had to save break points. The crucial game ended up being the one at 4-4 where Gasquet narrowly avoided losing his serve which would position Sinner with a chance to close out the match.
The French player ultimately broke Sinner late to win the set 7-5 and it was mostly due to Sinner struggling with his serve (46 % on the 1st). The final one opened with an early break for Sinner who avoided disaster by saving multiple break points after that. It was due to brave play by Sinner who still struggled with the serve but was hitting the ball really well.
Sinner broke once more and held his serve for the 5-1 lead hitting 15 winners in six games of play. He would add a few more until the end of the match finishing with 19 in the final set and 41 total. The final score was 6-3 5-7 6-2.
The win also continued Sinner's impressive streak of winning his opening match at events. He's yet to lose an opening match of an event going 11-0 so far. One of those wins was a walkover and one ended in the retirement of his opponent.
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