Jannik Sinner survived a late resurgence from Luciano Darderi to win the all-Italian clash 6-1 6-3 7-6(2) as the defending champion advance to the Australian Open quarter-finals.
The second seed was dominant in the first two sets against a slightly injured Darderi but needed to save break points in the third set to prevail.
Next up for Sinner could be a repeat of last year’s semi-final against Ben Shelton or he could face Casper Ruud.
It was a dominant start from Sinner who hammered home winners and was superior on serve as he aimed to match Carlos Alcaraz’s serving heights.
A 5-0 lead was restored before Darderi eventually grew into the match and claimed a game off Sinner.
However, it was too late as Sinner raced away with the opening set as he added dropshots to his repertoire.
In the second set Darderi started a bit stronger producing some aggressive opening set and engaging in longer rallies with a more authoritative approach.
That earned some success but not enough against a persistent Sinner as the second seed took a 2-1 lead with a break of serve.
There was some effective point construction in Sinner’s game with the defending champion approaching the net to finish points off as well.
It was clear that Darderi was frustrated as he smacked balls into the crowd and shouted at his time.
A double fault handed a two set lead to Sinner as physio’s came onto court to treat the 22nd seed for a leg injury.
That treatment seemed to work for Darderi who played a much better third set and gave Sinner all sorts of problems.
There was more aggression on the forehand side and a determination to end the points quicker which caught Sinner by surprise.
After saving two break points in the fourth game, Darderi went on the attack and in the ninth game had four break points to take a 5-4 lead.
However, Darderi was too passive on these points and Sinner produced some outstanding first serves to go 5-4 up and then had two match points in the tenth game to seal victory on Darderi’s serve.
It was an emphatic response from Darderi though as he grinded out a hold of serve to level the set at 5-5.
A couple of games later, Darderi held to love to send the third set into a tiebreak with the 22nd seed making an incredible start by winning the opening two points and securing the mini-break.
However, Sinner raced away with the next seven points and sealed a straight sets win to move into the last eight.
After the match Sinner revealed that he was pleased to win in straight sets and spoke about improvements on the serve, “I felt like in the third set, I had a couple of great chances and couldn’t use them. I got very tight so I’m very happy I closed it in three sets,” Sinner was quoted by BBC Sport as saying in his on-court interview.
“I tried to raise my level, I started off really well and at the end I had some pressure points. I am very happy, thanks for coming for and the support. It’s amazing. We put a lot in to the serve and we changed the motion a bit. I feel more confident.”
Sinner will now aim to reach another Australian Open semi-final when he takes on Ben Shelton or Casper Ruud on Wednesday.
