Broken in the third game of the match, Lehecka snapped right back to win the first three points of Sinner’s next service game. Sinner was in a hole, but he blasted his way out of it, reeling off five consecutive first serves—three unreturnables and two gorgeous aces—to consolidate his break. The feat left Lehecka gobsmacked.
“I think it show[ed] how great a player Jannik is, how he was able to come back in a crucial moment and how he was able to help himself with the serve,” Lehecka said in his post match news conference, adding that he had “probably” only a single chance to put a return into play. He added that “Jannik [also] played very good return games, and I felt during the whole match that he’s putting more and more pressure on me.”
There was just one brief interlude when it seemed that Sinner might buckle under the pressure of Lehecka’s offense. Both men held with ease in the first two games of the second set, but in the third and fifth games Sinner had Lehecka on the ropes half-a-dozen times. But he failed to capitalize on five break points. Looking slightly rattled, the Italian made a few uncharacteristic errors and pretty soon Lehecka had a 4-3 lead on serve. But Sinner reset with a hold, then broke Lehecka and served it out.
