Defending champion Jannik Sinner overcame an early blip to book his place in the second round of the China Open.
The world No.1 battled back from a set down to beat Chile’s Nicolas Jarry 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, in what was the first match he has played since lifting the US Open title. Sinner was caught off guard early on by his opponent, who hasn’t won back-to-back matches since May, before clawing his way back with the help of 15 winners. The victory extends his winning streak to 12 matches in a row.
“He played some very good tennis.” Sinner said of Jarry during his on-court interview.
“The first set, he was serving very well. I was struggling to return his serve and then he broke me.
“I just tried to stay there mentally, especially in the first round. In every tournament, they are never easy.
“Playing against him, it’s very tough. So I’m happy about my performance and how I ended the match.”
Beijing is the first tournament Sinner is playing since hiring Marco Panichi and physiotherapist Ulises Badio who have both previously worked with Novak Djokovic. In recent weeks one of the areas of his game the top seed has been working on is his serve. Something he feels needs further improvement. Against Jarry, he won 82% of his first service points and 67% of his second.
“The second (serve) I still have to improve a little bit, but he (Jarry) was returning very aggressively.” He said.
“We tried to work very hard and we tried also to change a couple of things and I’m happy about my process.
“Obviously there is still a lot of room to improve.”
Sinner’s triumph continues his perfect record when it comes to playing opening matches at tournaments this season withthe Italian improving his record to 13-0. He has also now recorded 48 wins in a row over players ranked outside the top 20. The last person outside of the top 20 to beat him was Dusan Lajovic at the 2023 Cincinnati Masters.
Awaiting Sinner in the next round will be either three-time major winner Stan Wawrinka or Russia’s Roman Safiullin.
