World No. 3 Jannik Sinner will be expected to defeat Christopher O'Connell when they meet at the last-16 stage of the Miami Open on Tuesday.
Sinner overcame Tallon Griekspoor in three sets in the last round, while O'Connell edged both tie-breaks in a feisty encounter against Martin Damm Jr.
Match preview
As is often the case, O'Connell managed to out-serve his opponent at the clutch moments to gain victory. Although Damm Jr served five more aces (18) than his opponent, O'Connell held his nerve in both tie-breakers, winning 81% of points on his first serve across the encounter.
O'Connell - who matched his best effort at a Grand Slam when reaching the third round at Wimbledon last year - drew headlines when confronting Damm Jr at one point during the match. With both players walking to the net, O'Connell asked his opponent: "What are you doing? Right before I serve you're yelling out".
Damm, who is ranked 204th in the world, appeared taken aback by the Australian's questioning, bluntly responding: "So what? I'm not doing anything". The umpire was forced to intervene in order to avoid the confrontation escalating.
O'Connell will be hoping to use all of that anger and serving power to his advantage against Sinner, who he has beaten in their only previous career meeting in 2021. However, it will take a monumental effort if he is to overcome the Italian, who is playing close to the peak of his powers at this later stage of his career.
© Reuters
Indeed, Sinner may have required almost two-and-a-half hours to overcome Griekspoor on Monday, but his progression never appeared in any doubt once he had levelled the match at one set apiece.
In another serve-heavy contest, the Australian Open champion blinked first in the eleventh game, allowing the 25th seed to take the first set 7-5. However, Sinner flipped that scoreline on its head in the ensuing set, before blitzing his Dutch opponent off the court in the decider to drop only one game.
After losing to Carlos Alcaraz at the semi-final stage of Indian Wells earlier this month, Sinner will be determined to bounce back in the United States by lifting the Miami Open for the first time in his career.
Sinner and Alcaraz - which is already threatening to be the defining rivalry of this new generation of players - are on opposite sides of the draw this time around, meaning that they would not meet until the final. The Italian will be wary of avoiding an upset at the hands of O'Connell, who has the potential to serve anyone off the court on his day.
Tournament so far
Christopher O'Connell:
First round: vs. Vit Kopriva 6-2 6-4
Second round: vs. Frances Tiafoe 7-5 7-6[5]
Third round: vs. Martin Damm Jr 7-6[5] 7-6[5]
Jannik Sinner:
First round: Bye
Second round: vs. Andrea Vavassori 6-3 6-4
Third round: vs. Tallon Griekspoor 7-5 5-7 6-1
Head To Head
Atlanta Open (2021) - Last-16: O'Connell def. Sinner 7-6 6-4
O'Connell and Sinner have only ever met once on the ATP Tour, with O'Connell coming out on top on that occasion. That meeting took place more than 1,000km north of Miami at the Atlanta Open, when Sinner was still a few weeks away from celebrating his 20th birthday.
We say: Sinner to win in three sets
Despite defeating Sinner at Indian Wells nine days ago, World No. 2 Alcaraz called the Italian "the best player in the world right now." As such, Sinner will be expected to be involved at the business end of another US-based tournament this week.
However, O'Connell's phenomenal serving power can cause Sinner plenty of issues, and we can envisage this going the distance. Sinner needed three sets to defeat Griekspoor in the previous round, and we believe that may be the case once again versus the Australian.
Brett Curtis
