Tallon Griekspoor has stunned Jannik Sinner at the Shanghai Masters, with the world number two retiring injured in the third set.
Griekspoor lost the first set in a tie-breaker but bounced back to take the match to a decider by breaking Sinner at 5-5 in the second before serving out the set.
Alex de Minaur had hailed Sinner after losing to him last week, but the strong level of humidity in Shanghai completely knocked the Italian for six on this occasion.
Griekspoor has now claimed a very first win over Sinner, and he can look forward to a last-16 clash against Polish player Valentin Vacherot on Tuesday.
Tallon Griekspoor sends message to Jannik Sinner
Nobody saw this result coming at the Shanghai Masters and ultimately, the first prize is now up for grabs, with Novak Djokovic likely to be very pleased to see Sinner go out of the tournament.
Griekspoor was naturally very happy to get through against Sinner and after the match, he sent a classy message to the world number two and wished him well in his recovery.
He said: “I think I got a little bit lucky in the sense that we played in the evening, with no sun, and that certainly helped me. I just want to wish Jannik all the best, and I hope he can recover from this very quickly. Playing Jannik today was always going to be hard, but I’ve played him before, and although I’ve lost, I’ve pushed him close, so yes, it’s great to get the win
I had two and a half months without winning, struggled in the US and played poorly, mentally and physically not good. I spent lots of time focusing on the Asian swing so that I was really well prepared. Then I lost the first round in Chengdu, but played very well, and then the first win here was just what I needed.”
Griekspoor must use this win as a catalyst
A win of any real note has been a long time coming for the Dutch performer and he must now use this as a springboard to get back on track.
The 29-year-old has never gone beyond the fourth round of a major tournament and that came earlier this year when he made round four of the French Open.
| Tallon Griekspoor stats vs Jannik Sinner | Total |
| Aces | 17 |
| First Serve % Won | 78% |
| Double Faults | 1 |
| Total Points Won | 88 |
Griekspoor is currently the world number 31, although he has jumped up to 27th with this win, having previously been ranked in 21st place in 2023.
Griekspoor is too good not to be making strong efforts in tournaments and although he might have got a bit lucky with Sinner retiring hurt, he has to use this as a platform to really start kicking on.
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