Sinner delivers: Now it's a dream duel

Due to the injury-related absences of Matteo Berrettini and Lorenzo Musetti, all eyes are on the Sexten native at this year's Internazionali BNL d'Italia. He should take the coals out of the fire, especially since apart from Fognini, no other countryman made it into the second round. Sinner will meet Fabio Fognini on Wednesday at 19 p.m. after he gave Spaniard Pedro Martinez no chance at the start in Rome 6:4, 6:3. Fognini had already defeated Dominic Thiem 6:4 and 7:6 on Monday.

Sinner and Martinez played the final first-round match on the third day of the tournament. Although the 25-year-old from Alzira is a classic clay court specialist (he won 23 of his 39 ATP victories on the red clay), the roles were clearly assigned. Here the overwhelming favorite from Sexten, there the blatant outsider from Spain. Sinner confirmed this in the first few minutes. He started like a fire engine, immediately took Martinez's serve and ran away to 3-0. The service worked, the groundstrokes ran like clockwork, and his perfect footwork meant he was always in a good position with the ball. In short: the “Centrale”, which was full to bursting, liked what it saw.

When the fan favorite served for the set, however, the nerves were a bit fluttering: Sinner made a few mistakes, Martinez suddenly played big and it was immediately 4:5. The youngster immediately ironed out this slip-up with a second break. With a primal scream towards the frenetic audience, he celebrated the hugely important set win. Victory is never in danger This gave Sinner wings: Right at the start of the second section, he raised his level and went ahead again to 3-0. Noticeable: Compared to his last appearances, his backhand was much better again - especially the one he pulled along the line. Martinez now hung his head, looked counted out, but stuck with it. Sinner successfully defended the valuable break and scored his first match point after less than an hour and a half. How? With an ace!

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Sinner delivers: Now it's a dream duel

Jannik Sinner started the Masters 1000 tournament in Rome with befitting success. A real treat awaits the 20-year-old South Tyrolean in the next round: a duel with Italy's tennis eccentric Fabio Fognini.

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