(Tennis news) Jannick Sinner faced fellow Italian Matteo Berrettini in the second round after receiving a first-round bye. To set up a thrilling third-round matchup against three-time Major champion Andy Murray, the 21-year-old easily defeated his compatriot in straight sets.
Sadly, Murray’s injury led him to withdraw from the competition, hence the match was never played. The Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati the following week is also likely to be missed by the Brit. Sinner received a free entry into the quarterfinals as a result of his walkover.
Monfils eliminated Stefanos Tsitsipas and Christopher Eubanks to get to the third round, where he faced Aleksandar Vukic. The Frenchman was in complete control of the match and only need a break of serve in each set to prevail 6-4, 6-4.
Head-to-Head
In their previous meetings, Sinner defeated Monfils 3-1. At the Sofia Open in 2021, the Italian triumphed in their prior meeting in straight sets.
Predictions
After winning three straight games for the first time in his career, Monfils put on one of his best performances since making a comeback to record his best performance of the year. Against Vukic, he never dropped a serve and only encountered a few break points.
Monfils won 87% of his first serve points and threw down nine aces. As he amassed 24 victories, his solid serving performance was complemented by his excellent ground game.
Sinner competed admirably against Berrettini despite not having the opportunity to test himself against Murray. His successful head-to-head record versus Monfils demonstrates that he has been able to manage the Frenchman reasonably effectively.
Monfils is forced to scramble by Sinner’s tremendous weight of shot and clean ball striking. The senior French player has been playing excellent tennis all week and even defeated Tsitsipas, who was ranked in the top 10.
In the quarterfinals, Sinner can encounter a difficult opponent, but the young Italian should be able to improve his record against Monfils.
Jannick Sinner set to win 3 sets (2-1)
Also read: Carlos Alcaraz defeats Hubert Hurkacz in 3rd round
