Daniel Altmaier completed a second-round upset at the French Open, saving two match points and beating world no. 9 Jannik Sinner. The World No. 79 came back from the brink to secure a 6-7(0), 7-6(7), 1-6, 7-6(4), 7-5 in a marathon victory. After a promising start in which Altmaier split a pair of tie-break sets with Sinner, the German appeared sluggish and gifted his higher-ranked opponent five games in a row to charge to the third set. Altmaier’s fourth-set escape act and fifth-set heroics demonstrated his high endurance levels, however, as he claimed the first five-set win of his career.
In the longest match at Roland Garros since Lorrenzo Guistino’s six-hour five-minute win against Corentin Moutet in 2020 and fifth longest match overall at the French Open, Altmaier avenged his five-set defeat to Sinner in the pair’s only previous meeting at the 2022 US Open. When asked about his keeping his cool during the tie breaks he said- “Playing every point you can with the best effort, that’s what keeps you in reality.”, “I was just thinking that, and the competition says it all. We’ve had historical matches with so many match points… I don’t know if you can call this a ‘historical’ match, but I think it was one to remember.”
What lies ahead for Altmaier?
Altmaier was overcome by emotions at the on-court interview after the match as the crowd roared in delight, lauding his efforts. By defeating Sinner, Altmaier jumps into no. 56 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, increased by 23 spots by reaching the third round in Paris. His third-round opponent will be 28th seed Grigor Dimitrov, who had defeated Emil Ruusuvuori 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-4. He reached a career-high of No. 53 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings in May 2022, but he will rise above that mark if he gets past Dimitrov in the French capital.
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