Jannik Sinner cruised past Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-3 6-0 to reach the third round at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
Sinner saved Kokkinakis’ lone break point at 2-2 in the first set by firing a 103 mph inside-in forehand winner. The 2024 Australian Open champion broke Kokkinakis in a nine-minute eighth game and served out the first set at 15 after 54 minutes.
Sinner dropped the first point of the second set before winning 13 consecutive points to break twice in the first and third set for 3-0. Sinner won the final nine games and dropped just five points in the second set.
“I felt like it was a bit breezy today, so it was tough to play, especially in the beginning because for me it’s my first match here. I think I can be very happy. He is a great opponent, a great player. He serves really big”, said Sinner.
Sinner has won 26 of his 27 past matches and started the 2024 season with two titles at the Australian Open and Rotterdam.
“You can set goal after goal and then when you reach one goal, try to work hard for the next goal. I feel like I still have to improve many things. Starting on court, the court I also have to improve and trying to mix up the game. We worked before coming here a lot in the gym. These are the things that push me to do better and hopefully I can show this also on the court”, said Sinner.
Sinner will face either Borna Coric or Jan Lennard Struff in the third round and is seeded to play against Ben Shelton in the fourth round and Andrey Rublev in the quarter final.
Alex De Minaur, who finished runner-up to Sinner in the Rotterdam final, cruised past Japan’s Taro Daniel 6-1 6-2 in 58 minutes. De Minaur had already beaten Daniel last week en route to his title in Acapulco. The Australian player leads 4-0 in his head-to-head matches against Daniel.
Daniel will face either Alexander Bublik or Shang Juncheng. De Minaur is defending just 45 points through the end of Monte-Carlo, boosting his hopes to improve his career-high number 9 in the ATP Ranking.
