Qualifier Christopher O’Connell secured the biggest win of his career with an upset of No. 2 seed Jannik Sinner in the Atlanta second round on Thursday. Thus continued Sinner’s string of immediate exits from tournaments.
Aussie Christopher O’Connell posted another victory in Atlanta on Thursday with a 7-6(7), 6-4 win over world No. 23 Jannik Sinner. The Italian, who made his way to the round of 16 at the French Open, has struggled since then–failing to win a single match in two grass-court tournaments and falling in his first match in Atlanta this week.
O’Connell has had trouble getting main-draw match wins in 2021. The world No. 132 was 2-8 on the season coming into this week, although he had some injury issues early in the year.
“I had some ankle issues and I had to take a few months off,” he said after his win over Sinner.
Sinner had three set points in the opening tiebreaker but couldn’t convert; O’Connell bagged the set on his first chance at 8-7. The qualifier earned the only break point in the match in the first game of second set and wasted no time securing the break. Sinner held routinely for the rest of the set, but he got no traction on the O’Connell serve.
Although it was Sinner’s third loss in three tournaments without any wins, the Italian is able to maintain his perspective.
“How do I stay positive? It’s very easy. I mean, I’m 19 years old. I think a lot of people forget.”
O’Connell will play John Isner in the quarterfinals on Friday.
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