Jannik Sinner has wasted two matchpoints, as he was knocked out of the French Open 6-7(0) 7-6(7) 1-6 7-6(4) 7-5 in a second round thriller against German Daniel Altmaier.
The red-haired Italian, who is often cheered on by fans dressed as carrots - the Carota boys - and was spotted eating carrots as an oncourt snack in Vienna, was not his dominant self, as he bowed out after five hours 26 minutes.
Eighth-seeded Sinner, whose best performance at Roland Garros came in 2020, when he lost in the quarter-finals against Rafael Nadal, looked on track for a no-nonsense win, after cruising through the third set, but Altmaier had other ideas.
While Sinner's hardhitting approach works on hard courts, he struggles on the slowest surface, which proves more challenging, and he was eventually worn down by the world No.79, who converted his fifth matchpoint on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
After an exchange of breaks, the first set was decided in a tiebreak in which Sinner won all the points. The second set was a carbon copy of the first, until the tiebreak, which Altmaier dominated, winning most of the long rallies.
The Italian seemed like to hop into the next round, as he blazed through the third set, but he paid for his efforts in the fourth, trailing 3-0, before rallying back and breaking for 5-4.
Sinner then wasted two matchpoints - one when Altmaier's passing shot clipped the net and took him by surprise - as the German stole his serve again to send the match into a decider.
Altmaier, who reached the quarter-finals at Madrid this year and the last 16 at Roland Garros in 2020, served twice for the match, eventually shaking off his nerves to end it with an ace.
He went back to his chair, as tears rolled down his cheeks, before saying: "I love the game of tennis.
"In the past months, me, my team, we put so much effort all together.
"We play here, but behind us, we have strong teams - that's why this victory is a team effort."
Reuters
