Jannik Sinner admits line call error is ‘a tough one to swallow’ after rare defeat
Jannik Sinner has lost only his second match of the season, with the Italian reflecting on a line call error that caused the momentum of the match to change.
Sinner was beaten by two-time Monte Carlo Masters champion Stefanos Tsitsipas, 4-6 6-3 4-6, in the semi-finals of his first clay court tournament this year.
However, the Australian Open champion was actually leading the deciding set 3-1 and had an opportunity for a double break.
Tsitsipas had a second serve at break point down which appeared to go long, but there was no line call and Sinner elected to continue and lose the point.
Television cameras confirmed after the point that the ball had comfortably landed out, and Tsitsipas went onto hold and win four of the next five games to reach his third Monte Carlo Masters final.
Sinner spoke about this line call decision in his post-match press conference, “It’s tough, a tough one to swallow, because I was playing at some point great tennis. Everyone can make mistakes unfortunately or fortunately. You know, also I can make mistakes. And it went like this.”
The 22-year-old continued, “Then after, having cramps, it’s a consequence most likely of what happened because it also goes in the nervous side of the brain and then after, it’s not easy to play. I still tried to do the best I could. Stefanos raised the level, but when the momentum changes, it goes like this. This is the fun part of tennis.”
The umpire decision that costs Jannik Sinner the match? ????pic.twitter.com/sABkMsaEQA
— We Are Tennis (@WeAreTennis) April 13, 2024
Tsitsipas was also asked about the situation by press, with the Greek confessing that the match outcome would likely have been different had the correct decision been made.
“It might have had a bigger influence to my opponent than it had on me,” said Tsitsipas. “I think the match would have turned out completely different if that would have been called out.
“I will agree that it would have been pretty bad for me if that call was made. There are a lot of weird things on clay that we don’t see on other surfaces. One of them is the line calling and sometimes the marking.”
Tsitsipas will look to become only the 11th man to claim three titles at the 128-year-old Monte Carlo Masters tournament, when he takes on first-time finalist Casper Ruud later today.
Inside the baseline…
The way that Jannik Sinner handled this whole situation has confirmed why he is having so much success this year, with the Italian being so calm after such a big error was made on such an important point. It is also commendable that Stefanos Tsitsipas admitted that he would probably have lost had the serve been called out, but at the end of the day that is the situation with clay court tennis and you have to play to the umpire’s call.
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