French Open 2023: 'He choked!' - John McEnroe says Jannik Sinner 'blew it' in shock loss to Daniel Altmaier

Eurosport expert John McEnroe has accused Jannik Sinner of “blowing” the chance of beating Daniel Altmaier to advance to the French Open third round, sensationally saying the Italian “choked”. Altmaier came back from the brink to secure a 6-7(0) 7-6(7) 1-6 7-6(4) 7-5 victory in a match lasting five hours and 26 minutes – the fifth longest match in Roland-Garros history. Ad Remarkably, the German saved two match points on Sinner’s serve at 4-5 in the fourth set and then held his nerve to emerge victorious in the decider.

Roland-Garros'He choked!' — McEnroe says Sinner 'blew it' in shock loss to Altmaier3 HOURS AGO “I think that’s when you're proud to be a tennis player,” reflected McEnroe. “You know, when you see guys go at it for that long and that hard, you hate to see someone lose. “I mean, Sinner had it on his racquet, match point and then blew it and lost the four set.

And then you're thinking, well he’s still going to win it? But he gets down, and then it looks over, he's saved for four or five match points, breaks for god’s sake at 5-4 and then loses his serve, and then looks like he's going to break again. “Those matches are the ones that stay with you for months if not years. I mean, those are tough to get over.” Barbara Schett put it to Alex Corretja that Sinner was unlucky not to take the match point in the fourth set, but McEnroe intervened, saying: “No, he choked.

“You tell me. Let’s go to Eurosport.com and all you fans watching can decide whether he should have won this point. Come on, that should have been over.” McEnroe stressed that Sinner should have played the shot to the corner rather than play centrally.