Italian youngster Jannik Sinner rued the missed chances after losing to Rafael Nadal

 

Italian youngster Jannik Sinner recently got knocked out of the Italian Open in the second round after fighting valiantly against Rafael Nadal. The Italian youngster lost in straight sets but did put up a  great fight in both sets. The 19-year-old led by a break twice in the opening set and also had a 3-1 advantage in the second set. But he failed to capitalize on his chances, losing 5-7, 4-6.

The Italian was disappointed with the missed chances during his post-match press conference. He explained how he should have done better against Nadal on the day as he has improved a lot since he played him the last time in the 2020 French Open.

“For sure I’m more disappointed and especially sad today because I think obviously we both played quite a high-level match,” Jannik Sinner said. “Now it’s tough to accept that I’m already out of the court because the first set I was up twice with a break, and the second set I was up with a break. It’s tough to accept because obviously, I think Roland Garros was more like a test to see where I am and this time I knew that I could have and maybe today I should have done something more.”

He also went on to say that he played a much better match against Nadal than the one he played against Novak Djokovic in the Monte Carlo Masters.

“If I compare my game against Djokovic with today, I think I have improved in many things,” Sinner said. “Today is a day that hurts, that will not even make me sleep well at night.”

Sinner claimed that the Spaniard played the tougher points a lot better than him. However, he also admitted that he will learn from the mistakes that he made on the day.

“He handled the situations better than me, like the last time. There are for sure lessons that I can learn,” Sinner continued. “We have to come together with my team and watch this match many, many times from today. Then we will see what we should have done better.”

After beating Sinner, Rafael Nadal has now also defeated Canadian tennis star Dennis Shapovalov 3-6,6-4,7-3. The Spaniard has now progressed to the quarterfinals of the Italian Open.