Sinner set for Italian Open test

ROME, Italy (AFP) — Jannik Sinner is gearing up for the first true test of his pre-Roland Garros form after after cruising into the Last 16 of the Italian Open on Monday while Aryna Sabalenka’s bid for a first Rome title continued with a straight-sets win over Marta Kostyuk.

World No. 1 Sinner continued his Foro Italico comeback from a three-month doping ban by dealing with lucky loser Jesper de Jong 6-4, 6-2 and setting up a clash with Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo on Tuesday.

Sinner was knocked out in the Last 16 by Cerundolo the last time he played here, in 2023, and he is under no illusions that the 17th seed will be a big step up after low-ranked opponents in his first two matches.

“Tomorrow will be a big day for me, because I’ll need to raise my game against him,” Sinner told reporters.

“He’s played some really good tennis recently, he got to the semi-finals in Madrid and he’s playing some real tennis. He’ll be confident.”

The over 10,000 fans crammed into the center court stands hoped Sinner could end a 49-year wait for an Italian winner of the men’s tournament in the capital.

But the win was in reality another warm-up for the 23-year-old’s stated objective of arriving at the French Open in top form.

De Jong, ranked at a career-high 93rd in the world, offered some resistance in a low-key contest in which Sinner showed signs of rustiness.

Sinner threw away a three-game lead when 4-1 up in the first set before eventually going ahead in the match but he saw out the contest with little fuss, helped in part by De Jong hurting his wrist in a fall in the fourth game of the second set.

Sinner’s compatriot Jasmine Paolini cruised past Jelena Ostapenko and into the women’s quarter-finals, easing past her Latvian opponent in straight sets 7-5, 6-2.

Sixth seed Paolini will face Diana Shnaider in the last eight as she eyes another deep run in a 1000 series tournament after losing to world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who later takes on Marta Kostyuk, in the Miami semifinals.

“Today was unbelievable. The atmosphere was really, really, really great,” Paolini said.

“We really enjoy being in this era of Italian tennis. We are like a team. Everybody is pushing each other.”

Fellow Italian Matteo Berrettini made a tearful exit as he retired with an abdominal problem while trailing sixth seed Casper Ruud 7-5, 2-0 in their clash.

Ruud next plays 66th-ranked Spaniard Jaume Munar for a place in the quarter-finals, where he could face Sinner.