Kristine Joy, Writer

Las Vegas is known for vices like gambling and drugs; earning it the nickname, “Sin City”.

sin
/sin/

noun: an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law.

vice
/vīs/

noun: immoral or wicked behavior.

Cincinnati has long been known for LESS offensive attributes:

• “Five-way” chili – base of spaghetti topped with chili, cheese, onions and beans (though arguably sinful).
• A strong German heritage.
• The Cincinnati Open (formerly known as the Cincinnati Masters). The event began in 1899 and “is the oldest tennis tournament in the United States still played in (or near) its original city.“

But, SINce the tournament started this year on August 5th, Cincinnati has had it’s share of sin:

1. Wicked storms that caused schedule delays in the tournament.
2. Immoral heat indexes. The RealFeel as I type this, during the first men’s semifinal, is 99°.
3. Jannik SINner and his tennis abilities that defy divine law.
   • Technically, he won the tournament last year so my renaming Cincinnati to Sinner City may come off as less NEWsworthy to you?

This isn’t about me but I have eaten the infamous chili at a Skyline ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, am of strong German descent and have played at Lindner Family Tennis Center. And that’s enough about me.

In the time that it took me to edit the above, Sinner did in fact secure a win over Terence Atmane in the semi-finals.

The first set….didn’t take very long, but not because it was lopsided. Without looking up stats, I’d say the average (EVERY?) game was won on-serve on the 40-15 point. 12 games like this. 2 total points that went more than 9 shots (that stat is a fact) prior to the tiebreaker. I looked at my watch when the match started and a few minutes later, looked at my watch again when Atmane started the tiebreaker with a double fault. And this blink wound up being his only true fault in an otherwise star (new and old) studded serving set that was far short of a saga.

The second set was lopsided in Sinner’s favor, but a few words on Atmane before his exit from this story, and possibly tennis history?

Sayonara?

Personally, I sure hope not!

Hailing from France and with a career high ranking of ATP #118 (7/22/24), Atmane came out of the woods in this year’s tournament to chop down worthy opponents – first round opponent and the No. 2 Japanese player Yoshihito Nishioka, 15th seeded Flavio Cobolli, predicted future sensation Joao Fonseca, 4th seeded Taylor Fritz and 7th seeded Holger Rune.

How did Atmane fare so well? I’m no expert, far from it. In fact, this is my first attempt at being a sportswriter and I’m thinking that I talked too much chili? But, if I attempted an explanation (in no particular order):

Lefty
⬇️ 🐾 ➕

Serve
It’s ridiculously good. Sinner, arguably (or not because I wouldn’t argue with me on this) is a Top 3 Returner in the game right now and he was off balance a time or ten.
(fastest recorded serve speed is 148 mph)

Confidence
Specifically, in his forehand and when changing direction to down-the-line.

Perspective
Atmane has one of the biggest Pokemon collections in Europe; he gifted Jannik a Pokemon card before the match for Sinner’s 24th birthday. And generosity is a gift of the giver. Atmane also projected HAPPINESS and GRATITUDE throughout the tournament.*

Big Brain
Atmane’s IQ is 158.
I’m less of a rocket scientist than he, but smart enough to know, a little bit of wit can go a long way.

* I suppose it helps when you have plenty of reasons to smile over the course of a breakout tournament. 😉

And that’s enough about Atmane also. He lost and this article isn’t named in his honor.

Sinner took Atmane’s hot streak and put it in an ice bath. He wasn’t going to the be the first to blink. In fact, I can only think of one time that he actually blinked in the 5 years that I’ve been watching him play.

Yes, my opinion is biased and yes, I picked Sinner out as the next GOAT the first time I saw him play given the ease in which he hits an AVERAGE forehand AT 78 MPH with 3,049 RPM.

(the tour average is 73 mph and 2,708 rpm)

The other semi-final match has yet to be played, but I predict a Sinner win this year, next year, the year after that and so forth. Sinner will dominate the fast courts of Cincinnati for a decade. If the Cincinnati Open had a suggestion box, I’d suggest that their billboards for next year include the tagline, “Sinner City”.

Credit wordpress.com for the featured image / images.