Jannik Sinner does not trust the next opponent on the road to Alcaraz

Jannik Sinner spoke hot off the heels of a velvet debut at the ATP 500 in Doha, Qatar, in which he overwhelmed Tomas Machac, No. 31 in the ATP rankings, with a clean 6-1 6-4 after one hour and ten minutes of play: “Today in the wind was not easy, but you have to adapt to every situation and condition on the court. With Machac we faced each other a couple of times, so I knew a little bit what to expect. I felt good on the field today. Physically I feel good. Every game is going to get tougher, so I hope to be ready for the next one”.

Andrea Gussoni

Practically perfect match for the Blue, who conceded crumbs on serve (zero break points conceded) and was almost always dangerous in response. A fiery start for Sinner: the Azure held the serve at fifteen and got three consecutive break points already in the second game; Machac saved with his serve but conceded another one in which he surrendered with a double fault. Sinner confirmed the break at zero with three service wins and in the sixth game he repeated it thanks to another bloody double fault by the Czech. The South Tyrolean is unplayable on serve and with an ace and a winning forehand makes the first partial his after only 26 minutes.

Machac tries to fight back in the second set by playing two excellent service turns but in the fifth game the balance is broken again in Sinner&#8217s favor. The world number two climbs back from 30-0 and with four consecutive points scratches the break (3-2). Jannik remained untouchable on serve, while the Czech was forced to save a break point in the fateful seventh game and three match points in the ninth before surrendering to the Blue who closed with the ace.

Thanks to this victory, Sinner advances to the round of 16 of the ‘Qatar Exxon Mobil Open’ where he will face Australian Alexei Popyrin, No. 53 in the world rankings, who swept the Qatari wildcard Mubarak Shannan Zayid (6-0 6-2) in his debut.