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Jannik Sinner survives Nicolas Jarry's horror in Beijing | ATP Tour

Match report

Sinner survives Jarry scare in Beijing

Italian achieves the 12th victory in a row

September 26, 2024

Shi Tang/Getty Images

Jannik Sinner is chasing his seventh title of the season in Beijing.
By Sam Jacot

Defending champion Jannik Sinner didn't have everything his way in his return to the China Open on Thursday, but he found a way to get past Nicolas Jarry and claim his 12th straight win.

The Italian was overwhelmed by the powerful Chilean in the first set. However, the top seed was undeterred and increased his consistency, intensity and level to record a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 first round win in Beijing.

“He played good tennis,” said Sinner, who is 56-5 this season. “In the first set I struggled to return his serve and he broke me. I just tried to stay there mentally. The first round of a tournament is never easy and playing against him is very tough. But I’m happy with the performance and how I finished the match.”

Sinner committed 11 unforced errors and produced a series of stunning baseline passes to blunt the constant approaches to the net from Jarry, who upset then world number two Carlos Alcaraz for the biggest win of his career in Buenos Aires in February.

“The first serve was good, I still need to improve a little on the second,” said Sinner, who won 82 percent (37/45) of his first serve points, according to Infosys ATP Stats. “He came back aggressively, so it’s not easy. After the US Open we tried to work really hard, change a few things, but we were happy with my process.”

Last year, Sinner won the title at the ATP 500 event in Beijing. His run in the Chinese capital was an important step for the 23-year-old to become the first Italian No. 1 in the history of the PIF ATP Rankings (since 1973).

Sinner has won seven trophies since his title shot in Beijing in 2023, including majors at the Australian Open and US Open. Sinner will be competing in New York for the first time since winning the trophy earlier this month and will next play lucky loser Roman Safiullin or former world number 3 Stan Wawrinka.

The top seed, who leveled his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Jarry at 1-1 after his hour and 55-minute victory, qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals last month. The Italian is hoping to go one step further at the prestigious year-end tournament in November after losing to Novak Djokovic in the title match last season.

His Italian compatriot Flavio Cobolli defeated number eight seed Alexander Bublik 4:6, 6:1, 7:6(4). The 22-year-old, ranked 31st in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, won 81 percent (50/62) of his first serve points, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Cobolli will next face Pavel Kotov. The two split their two matches in the Lexus ATP Head2Head Series.

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