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Jannik Sinner was stunned by lucky loser Arthur Rinderknech at the Lyon ATP 250 event on Thursday. Sinner lost to the Frenchman despite having initially led by a set, and many were surprised at his inability to hold serve at the business end of the match; the Italian got broken as many as three times in the deciding set.
Jannik Sinner himself was unhappy with his performance, and he later took to Twitter to admit that it was a bad day at the office for him. Sinner also congratulated Rinderknech before going so far as to suggest that he had taken a "step back" during his short-lived Lyon campaign.
"Not the performance I wanted yesterday. Didn't find the solution, congrats to Arthur Rinderknech. Felt like a step back after the first round," Jannik Sinner wrote on Twitter.
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After winning the first set in a close tiebreaker, Jannik Sinner was broken in five of his next 10 service games. Arthur Rinderknech played some inspiring tennis in the second half of the match, unleashing some big serves and powerful forehands upset the young Italian.
Sinner's serve was alarmingly bad in the deciding set, as he won just 50% of the points on it.
The Italian had registered a hard-fought three-set win over Aslan Karatsev in his Lyon opener, and many were expecting him to make a run for the title after Dominic Thiem's loss to Cameron Norrie. But that was not to be, and Sinner has been left licking his wounds after the Rinderknech loss.
But the 19-year-old went on to claim that such days are part and parcel of the job, before asserting that he was ready to get his preparations underway for the 2021 French Open.
"But this is tennis," Sinner continued. "Now to prepare for the main goal, Roland Garros."
"It's difficult to win a match even if you try your best" - Jannik Sinner on his servin woes
Jannik Sinner also delved deeper into his serve during one of his recent media interactions. The Italian called his serve a "disaster" during the match against Rinderknech, and claimed that it is difficult to beat your opponent when your most important shot is misfiring.
"My serve today was completely a disaster, as I said, it's difficult to win a match even if you try your best," Sinner said.
