2 things that stood out in Daniel Altmaier's upset win over Jannik Sinner at French Open

Daniel Altmaier of Germany caused a major upset at the 2023 French Open by beating eighth seed Jannik Sinner 6-7, 7-6, 1-6, 7-6, 7-5 in a five-hour epic battle on Thursday, June 1.

He thus booked his place in the third round, where he will face 28th seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria. Dimitrov leads their head-to-head 1-0, but the two have never met on clay.

Altmaier should be exhausted after the marathon second-round match, but his win over Sinner should give him enough motivation to do well on Saturday.

On that note, let us take a look at two things that stood out in the match between Daniel Altmaier and Jannik Sinner.

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#1 Jannik Sinner was more dominant from the baseline, but Altmaier did better in the net

It goes without saying that Jannik Sinner had the more powerful groundstrokes of the two. The 21-year-old Italian kept hitting them with ferocious power from the baseline, but the German held his own with his good defence.

Moreover, Daniel Altmaier also fared better in the net, with his superior volleying skills helping him win points. Each of the first two sets went into tie-breaks, with the two players sharing the spoils. Altmaier won 17 of the 19 net points in the first two sets to keep the pressure on the Italian.

However, Sinner was the more aggressive of the two players, forcing the German to be on the defensive for the most part.

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#2 Daniel Altmaier went for depth as the match progressed, as both players started committing more errors

Sinner raced through the third set, pummeling any short ball that was offered to him and breaking Altmaier twice. The Italian pounded the Altmaier's backhand in the set, as the latter started committing error more frequently under pressure.

However, from the fourth set onwards, Daniel Altmaier started playing his shots deep to prevent the Italian from getting short balls. The Italian’s tendency to stay on the baseline meant that the German could go for depth frequently with his shots.

However, Jannik Sinner bounced back from a 0-3 deficit in the fourth set to serve for the match at 5-4. He had two match points in the game, but the German saved both of them, with the net chord helping him on one occasion.

The German then won the tie-break that followed. By the middle of the fourth set, both players were fatigued and committed unforced errors frequently. While Altmaier hit a few shots long, Sinner’s skills in front of the nets were found wanting as he hit a few volleys into the net.

However, Altmaier's down-the-line backhand was a treat to watch and won him quite a few points. The German then hung on to win the fifth set, thereby completing a memorable comeback and also registering one of the biggest wins of his career.