French Open 2023: 'He choked!' - John McEnroe says Jannik Sinner 'blew it' in shock loss to Daniel Altmaier
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Published 01/06/2023 at 19:27 GMT
Daniel Altmaier saved two match points on Jannik Sinner’s serve at 4-5 in the fourth set and then held his nerve to emerge victorious in the decider at Roland-Garros. Eurosport's John McEnroe accused Sinner of "blowing" his chance of progressing to the third round, sensationally saying the Italian “choked”. Stream the 2023 French Open live on Eurosport and discovery+
'He blew it' – McEnroe on Sinner's shock loss to Altmaier at Roland-Garros
Eurosport expert John McEnroe has accused Jannik Sinner of “blowing” the chance of beating Daniel Altmaier to advance to the French Open third round, sensationally saying the Italian “choked”.
Altmaier came back from the brink to secure a 6-7(0) 7-6(7) 1-6 7-6(4) 7-5 victory in a match lasting five hours and 26 minutes – the fifth longest match in Roland-Garros history.
Remarkably, the German saved two match points on Sinner’s serve at 4-5 in the fourth set and then held his nerve to emerge victorious in the decider.
“I think that’s when you're proud to be a tennis player,” reflected McEnroe.
“You know, when you see guys go at it for that long and that hard, you hate to see someone lose.
“I mean, Sinner had it on his racquet, match point and then blew it and lost the four set. And then you're thinking, well he’s still going to win it? But he gets down, and then it looks over, he's saved for four or five match points, breaks for god’s sake at 5-4 and then loses his serve, and then looks like he's going to break again.
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Altmaier overcome with tears after beating Sinner in over five hours
“Those matches are the ones that stay with you for months if not years. I mean, those are tough to get over.”
Barbara Schett put it to Alex Corretja that Sinner was unlucky not to take the match point in the fourth set, but McEnroe intervened, saying: “No, he choked.
“You tell me. Let’s go to Eurosport.com and all you fans watching can decide whether he should have won this point. Come on, that should have been over.”
McEnroe stressed that Sinner should have played the shot to the corner rather than play centrally.
But Corretja said: “It’s just basically that Jannik wanted to go into the middle, maybe to protect the angle. He was a little bit unlucky that it hit the net.”
However, McEnroe interjected once more, remarking: “No, I disagree.
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Altmaier beats Sinner in fifth longest match in history of French Open
“I actually believed that he went to the middle because a lot of times players are going to the middle because guys go in one direction.”
Corretja added: “He should go to the backhand because he has an unbelievable backhand.”
Tim Henman pointed out that Sinner looked much more fatigued than his opponent in the dying throes of the match.
“One thing that I'll certainly say about the length of that match was how much more fresh Altmaier looked than Sinner at the end,” said Henman.
“I mean, Sinner looked at absolutely cooked from the end of the fourth, and, you know, he's had opportunities.”
“I mean, Sinner looked at absolutely cooked from the end of the fourth, and, you know, he's had opportunities.”
“You can just see the relief, the anguish, the emotion to finally get that done,” Henman added.
“So, an incredible victory, great efforts from both players, but I think that's going to be a tough one for Sinner to get over.”
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