Jannik Sinner clearly won his opening power in Rome. © ANSA / ETTORE FERRARI

Sinner starts in Rome with a show of force

The start has been made: Jannik Sinner clearly won his first game at this year's Masters tournament in Rome.

12 May 2023

From: dl

Sinner had no problems with world number 104 Thanasi Kokkinakis on Friday at lunchtime and won 6:1 and 6:4. Sinner only had an hour and 17 minutes of work to eliminate Australia and move into the third round. There the 21-year-old meets who is the great hope of Italy's tennis Tifosi in Rome, then to the Russian Alexander Shevchenko (ATP 93), who then defeated the Argentinian Sebastian Baez (ATP 40) in two sets.

Sinner showed against Kokkinakis from the start who was the boss of the house. The qualifier had not yet given a sentence. But on Center Court against Sinner, Kokkinakis had no chance. The Sesto native won the first eleven points. Kokkinakis didn't find an antidote against Sinner in the rallies and had to take the risk right away. The South Tyrolean exerted enormous pressure - especially on the forehand - and thus won virtually every long rally. In the end, Sinner won the first round after less than half an hour.

Thanasi Kokkinakis had no chance. © ANSA / ETTORE FERRARI

In the second set, Kokkinakis was more stable in his serve game. However, the 27-year-old didn't get a chance to break. Up until the 21st point, Sinner had won all of his service games to zero - an incredible rate. When the score was 3:3, the Puster player took advantage of the first break opportunity in the second round and took the lead. So the decision in this match was practically made. Sinner celebrated his eighth opening victory in his eighth tournament this year.