Jannik Sinner came back from one set down to beat Tommy Paul 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 after 2 hours and 59 minutes on Manolo Santana Stadium at the Madrid Mutua Open.
Paul saced three break points in the second game of the opening set, but Sinner converted his third break point in the sixth game to open up a 5-2 lead. Paul broke back on his second opportunity in the ninth game to draw level to 5-5.
Paul went up a 5-0 lead in the tie-break with three mini-breaks. Sinner pulled back two mini-breaks but Paul sealed the tie-break 7-4.
Paul broke serve in the second game to open up a 3-0 lead, as Sinner made a double fault. Paul held his next service games and saved a break-back point in the ninth game with a inside-out backhand.
Paul wasted two match points when he was serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set. Sinner broke back in the 10th game to draw level to 5-5 with a series of forehands, before saving a third match point to force the second set to the tie-break.
Paul earned an early mini-break to take a 2-1 lead, but Sinner broke straight back to draw level to 2-2. Sinner won the final three points from 4-4 to win the tie-break 7-4.
Sinner called for a medical time-out to treat a groin problem at 2-1 in the third set. The 20-year-old Italian player earned a break in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. Paul saved two break points for 5-1. Sinner held on his next service games to seal the third set 6-3.
Earlier this year Sinner saved three match points against Emil Ruusuvuori in the second round and five match points against Pedro Martinez in Miami and three match points against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the first round in Dubai.
“I just try to stay focused on the present moment. You cannot change anything in the past. Right now I am thinking more abour my level, because I don’t think it was one of my best performances. I will try to raise it in the next round, but obviously I am happy to be through because it was a very difficult match, a difficult opponent”, said Sinner.
Sinner will face Alex De Minaur, who beat Pedro Martinez 7-6 (7-2) 1-6 6-2. Sinner leads 3-0 in his three head-to-head matches against De Minaur.
Lorenzo Musetti rallied from one set down to beat Ilya Ivashka 2-6 6-3 7-5 after 2 hours and 7 minutes. Musetti will face the winner of the US match between Reilly Opelka and Sebastian Korda.
Ivashka broke twice in the third and fifth games to win the first set 6-2. Musetti broke serve in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead in the second set. Ivashka broke back in the seventh game for 3-4, but Musetti broke for the second game in the eighth game to seal the second set 6-3.
Ivashka earned a break in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead in the third set. Musetti broke back in the seventh game and saved a break point to hold serve for 4-4 in the eighth game. Ivashka faced a break point in the 11th game after a double fault. Musetti converted his break chance and sealed the win with a down the line forehand winner.
