Vienna Open: Sinner wins tight opener against Shelton

Italian Jannik Sinner, the second seed, moved into the second round of the Vienna Open by winning against American Ben Shelton 7-6 (2), 7-5 at the Wiener Stadthalle on Wednesday evening.

It was the blockbuster first-round match that tennis fans were looking forward to in Vienna from the moment the draw was announced, and for the better part of two hours it did not disappoint.

Sinner edges Shelton in two tight sets

Ahead of their first-round clash in Vienna, with the pair having recently met in Shanghai, Sinner said of his head-to-head with Shelton that, “he knows me now a bit better and I know him a bit better.”

For large stretches of this match, this proved true as there was very little between the two players.

The first set saw no breaks of serve, as both men were powerful behind their first serves, winning 86 and 84 percent of first serve points across the match. It was Sinner who had to work harder for his holds, however, thwarting three break points across the opening set.

Come tiebreak time, the world No 4 took his game to another level, blitzing Shelton for a quick 5-0 lead in the tiebreak. While Shelton pulled it back to 5-2 and just the one minibreak, the American was able to gain any more ground, conceding the set 7-6 (2).

In the second, it was Shelton who faced more pressure on serve, staring down several break points and beginning to look tired from his Tokyo title on the weekend. In the 11^th game of the set, Sinner broke the 21-year-old, gaining a decisive 6-5 advantage which he held onto and served out the match.

Sinner, ranked No 4, will play Italian lucky loser Lorenzo Sonego next.

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Shanghai Masters: Shelton ends Sinner’s winning streak in China to make last eight

Tennis Majors

Vienna ATP500, other first-round results (Wiener Stadthalle, EUR 2.409.835, most recent results first):

• Daniil Medvedev (1) beat Arthur Fils: 6-4, 6-2
• Borna Gojo (WC) beat Aslan Karatsev: 6-3, 6-3
• Gael Monfils beat Daniel Altmaier: 6-4, 6-4
• Grigor Dimitrov beat Lorenzo Musetti: 6-3, 6-4
• Lorenzo Sonego beat Francisco Cerundolo: 6-4, 5-7, 6-2
• Stefanos Tsitsipas (4) beat Dominic Thiem (WC): 7-6 (5), 6-4
• Frances Tiafoe (7) beat Daniel Evans: 1-4 ret.
• Tomas Machac (Q) beat Aleksandar Vukic: 6-3, 6-1
• Andrey Rublev (3) beat Alexei Popyrin: 7-6 (5), 6-4
• Tommy Paul (6) beat Alexandre Muller (Q): 6-3, 6-1
• Cameron Norrie beat Filip Misolic (Q): 7-6 (7), 4-6, 6-3
• Alexander Zverev (5) beat Sebastian Ofner (WC): 6-4, 6-1
• Matteo Arnaldi beat Albert Ramos-Vinolas (Q): 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2)
• Karen Khachanov (8) beat Roman Safiullin: 6-4, 6-4
• Jiri Lehecka beat J.J. Wolf: 6-4, 6-4