Every now and then, a player has that one match when everything goes perfectly and for Jannik Sinner that took place at his home tournament in Rome on Thursday.
Coming into the Italian Open, Sinner told reporters he had few expectations for his first event since January after serving a 90-day ban for an anti-doping violation. The suspension was related to two failed drug tests in 2024, which the International Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted was caused by accidental contamination during treatment. However, the World Anti-Doping Agency launched an appeal arguing that Sinner has an element of responsibility because he employs his physio and therefore should have made sure they were following the right protocol. Eventually, a 90-day suspension was agreed in a case settlement between the tennis player’s legal team and WADA. Both the ITIA and WADA stated they had no evidence that Sinner intentionally took a banned substance.
Returning to action last Saturday at the Foro Italico, Sinner showed the inevitable signs of rust but was still in good shape. During the first week, he scored straight sets wins over Maiano Navone, Jasper de Jong and Francisco Cerundolo.
Still, questions were looming about how he would fare against the very best on the Tour. On paper, Casper Ruud should have been the best test for this, given the Norwegian recently won the Madrid Open and is a formidable force on the clay, winning six out of his last seven meetings against top 10 players on the surface before facing Sinner.
However, the world No.1 was in top form on Thursday evening as he stormed to a 6-0, 6-1, victory, to hand Ruud one of the heaviest defeats of his career. It was the most one-sided men’s quarter-final match to take place in Rome since 2013 when Benoite Paire defeated Marcel Granollers with the same score. Sinner won 25 out of his 33 service points, produced 22 winners and converted six out of nine break point opportunities. According to Tennis Data Innovations’ Performance Rating, he achieved a match performance rating of 9.62, which is the best mark so far this season.
“It’s tough to say. I was feeling great on the court. I think we all saw that,” Sinner replied when asked if he would describe the performance as perfect.
“My goal was to try to understand where my level is at this tournament. It raised day by day, so I’m very happy about that. The result doesn’t really matter, but I felt today (Thursday) was a very positive sign for me.
“Everything can change in one day. It’s not that one performance can tell everything about my shape now, but I’m very happy.
“I think everything worked very well. I was serving well, also returning well, and moving great on the court. I’m very happy about that.”
To Ruud’s credit, his preparation for facing Sinner was tougher after his previous match was postponed by a day due to poor weather. So he didn’t have a day off compared to the Italian. However, Ruud didn’t use this as an explanation for the score. Instead, he was full of high praise for his rival, who has now beaten him four times in a row without dropping a set.
“It’s near as perfect that I witnessed, at least as a player, playing someone, so just got to give it to him,” Ruud commented.
“Everything else that came out of his racket… feels like a hundred miles an hour plus, every single shot, on the forearm, from the backhand, and even on my shots that I feel at times are pretty heavy it comes back like just firing.
“He was just everywhere… it’s just like playing a wall that you know shoots hundred miles an hour balls at you all the time.”
Elaborating further, Ruud said his crushing defeat didn’t feel so bad due to the high level produced by his opponent.
“It doesn’t feel so bad honestly, I think it was more fun than anything,” he said.
“You just look at the guy and say ‘wow this is kind of next-level shit’, excuse my language. I don’t know what else to say, it was almost fun to witness.
“I was there ready to play but he was just even readier.”
It might seem somewhat confusing that a top 10 player would be at peace with being crushed on the court. Ruud’s comments are similar to what Alex de Minaur once said of Sinner. The Australian also has a poor record against the three-time Grand Slam champion, losing all 10 of their meetings.
De Minaur explained that the way Sinner can start quickly in matches makes it hard for him. Which is something Ruud can also relate to.
“Whenever we (he and Sinner) played, it feels like the first three games, four games he gets the early break, right, and then all of a sudden we never really end up getting to later stages of sets where all of a sudden you can have scoreboard pressure, all of a sudden the rallies can get a little bit tense,” De Minaur said during this year’s Australian Open.
So what’s next for Sinner? Is he back to his best? Is he the clear favourite to win the French Open?
When a player produces such a one-sided match at a high-level event, it is easy for them to get ahead of themselves. However, consistency is required to win major titles. Hence why Sinner is taking a cautious approach heading into his semi-final showdown against Tommy Paul on Friday.
“I’m very happy, but things can change from one moment to the next,” Sinner admits.
“I played against him at the US Open and it was a very difficult match (won in straight sets). Let’s see what I can do.”
Sinner has won 11 consecutive matches against Top 10 opponents without losing a set. Should he win the Italian Open, he will become the first home player to claim the men’s title since Adriano Panatta in 1976.
