Rome, May 13
World No.1 Jannik Sinner continued his return from a doping ban with a comfortable straight-sets victory over Dutch lucky loser Jesper de Jong in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (Italian Open) in Rome.
The Italian who defeated Mariano Navone in his first match for more than three months on Saturday, backed that up on Monday with another stable display, beating Jesper de Jong 6-4, 6-2 on Monday night.
Playing in front of a vocal Italian crowd on Campo Centrale, Sinner let slip a break advantage in the first set but responded quickly to move ahead. The World No. 1 then moved through the gears in the second set against De Jong, who injured his right wrist when slipping at 1-3, 40/15 in the second set.
Sinner helped De Jong to his feet before he passed the 24-year-old a towel. The World No. 93 received a medical timeout at 2-3, with his wrist heavily strapped. The Dutchman could continue but was heavily hampered, frequently shaking out his wrist between points.
With his one-hour, 35-minute win, Sinner extended his winning streak to 23 matches and improved to 61-0 against players ranked outside the Top 20 in the PIF ATP Rankings since the start of the 2023 US Open.