Sinner storms past Sonego in Madrid

Jannik Sinner arrived at the Caja Magica with a 3-2 record at the Mutua Madrid Open, but the top seed did not show a lack of confidence Saturday.

The Italian star cruised past countryman Lorenzo Sonego 6-0, 6-3 in just 69 minutes to reach the third round at the ATP Masters 1000 event. He will next play World No. 72 Pavel Kotov.

“I know Lorenzo quite well. We have a good friendship off the court, we play Davis Cup together, we practise a lot together,” Sinner said. “Also the mental side was a little bit different than it used to be, so I'm just happy how I handled the situation. He didn't play at his best. I think we saw this. I wish him all the best for the rest of the season.”

🫂 #ThisIsTennis | @janniksin | @MutuaMadridOpen pic.twitter.com/JZXdU71nxZ

— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 27, 2024

Sinner, playing as the top seed at an ATP Masters 1000 for the first time, took a 5-0 lead in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Sonego with a dominant display inside Manolo Santana Stadium. The 22-year-old did not face a break point while he broke his opponent’s serve four times according to Infosys ATP Stats.

The No. 2 player in the PIF ATP Rankings won a higher rate of second-serve points (62%) than Sonego did first-serve points (54%) and was never in difficulty.

Sinner is now 26-2 on the season, which has been the best of his career. He won his first major title at the Australian Open and also triumphed in Rotterdam and Miami.

Kotov set his maiden tour-level clash with Sinner with a topsy-turvy 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 triumph against 32nd seed Jordan Thompson. He saved two match points when trailing 4-5 in the deciding set before pulling through to a three-hour, 16-minute triumph. The 25-year-old Kotov had not won a Masters 1000 main-draw match prior to his first-round victory against Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

Did You Know?
Sinner has lost just one of the 12 Lexus ATP Head2Head sets he has played against Sonego. None of their past nine sets have been extended past 6-4.