STARNBERG, December 1, 2020
While 2020 started excitingly, tennis players and fans went through seasons of light and darkness, hope and despair, all within a single unpredictable year. The period of despair started in the spring and lasted until early summer when games got postponed, and it was unclear when the season would continue.
The spring of hope for tennis came several months later when the French Open at Roland Garros and the US Open moved forward. That gave punters the much-needed opportunity to wager with Illinois sports betting while creating a wonderful diversion from the world lockdown situation. Despite starting the year with a Down Under during the Australian Open, players raised money for bushfire relief efforts.
Here are the matches that delivered the most breathtaking tennis moments in 2020.
Federer vs. Millman – Australian Open, January 2020
While Millman is among the hardest-working players on the ATP Tour, the 31-year-old Australian has a career record of more losses than wins and has never been among the Top 30. As such, nothing suggested that Millman would be a worthy opponent for Federer, despite recording a historic upset over the Swiss legend during the 2018 US Open.
Ahead of this match, Millman was the obvious underdog, with many fans comparing his winning chances to lightning striking twice. However, when the tenacious Millman got an early break against Federer in the fifth set, it looked like the Swiss maestro was falling again at the hand of the Aussie. At this point, the raucous crowd didn’t know whether to support their beloved champ or the underdog. Nonetheless, Federer kept his cool and reeled off six points straight to punctuate his incredible run.
Coric vs. Tsitsipas – US Open, September 2020
In Coric’s own words engraved in his tattoo, there’s nothing worse than the ordinary. These are the ethos that kept Coric going while he was down two sets to one during the fourth set of the third round match against Tsitsipas during the US Open this year. At No. 32, Coric knew he needed to be extraordinary to defeat the tournament’s fourth seed, which he did.
With Coric down two sets to one and 5-1 during the fourth set, most fans were certain that it would be another disappointing outcome for the Mediterranean athlete. However, Coric turned the tables when he broke back to reduce the gap, and soon Tsitsipas’ game was slipping. Coric then managed to storm back and won six games consecutively to take the fourth set at 7-5.
Giustino vs Moutet – Roland Garros, September 2020
A 29-year-old Italian tennis player, Giustino has only one tour-level victory in his career, however, recorded an incredible win during his first-round match against 21-year-old Frenchman Corentin Moutet. The young French talent gave Giustino a hard time in the first set, and there was no reason to believe the Italian would win. Nonetheless, Giustino battled back to win the second and third sets by tie-breaks before losing the fourth set by 6-2. The two played the match for over three hours by the beginning of the fifth set and continued playing for three more hours as players must win by two sets at the Roland Garros.
