Jannik Sinner turns diving Halle hot shot into momentum shift for winning world No. 1 debut

HALLE, Germany—Jannik Sinner couldn’t help but grin in disbelief towards his team Tuesday at the Terra Wortmann Open after securing the first break of a hard-fought battle with Tallon Griekspoor.

And rightly so, for Sinner went all-out to win a rally that proved to be a second pivotal moment in a matter of minutes during his winning debut as the ATP’s world No. 1.

In a Halle battle that was expected to be thin on margins, Sinner put a disapointing ending to the opening set behind him to emerge victorious, 6-7 (8), 6-3, 6-2, over Griekspoor.

The Dutchman valiantly overcame a 1-5 deficit in the tie-break, later saving two set points before taking a one-set lead on his third opportunity.

At 2-2 in the second set, there was a brief delay to address an issue with the net. Fans throughout OWL Arena joined together to sing the John Denver classic, “Take Me Home, Country Roads”, a fitting tune for the ATP 500 event surrounded by pastures and mountain fog.

When play resumed, Sinner recovered from 0-40 down on his serve to stay in front. The following game, the Italian hustled to make a forehand pass winner—before side-somersaulting to finish a diving movement for 4-2.

“It started with a lucky return, shanked it a little bit. He opened me on the forehand,” Sinner told TENNIS.com as he began to recall how the point played out. “I tried to let him play his normal shot and then somehow I went in the wrong direction. But I saw that his ball touched the net and and became quite high.

“So I had a small chance to get to that ball. I just somehow tried to play cross court because he was covering down the line. It was a crucial moment that went my way and then from that point a little bit, the momentum has changed.”

Sinner continued to protect his serve the rest of the way in not facing another break point. In the deciding set, he broke Griekspoor two more times before closing out the encounter with his 15th ace.

"I was 5-1 up in the tie-break in the first set. But this can happen, especially on this surface, it can go very, very fast,” Sinner reflected with ATP Media.

“I think I was good mentally. I was struggling in the second set, 0-40 down on my serve. If he makes that point, it is even more difficult. It’s all about trying to get the confidence back, especially on this surface. And I’ve shown that.”

The 22-year-old, who has also entered doubles this week with Hubert Hurkacz, meets Fabian Marozsan for a place in the quarterfinals. Sinner is bidding to lift his first grass-court trophy.