2' min
After his US Open triumph and a few weeks' break, Jannik Sinner made his debut on the hard courts of the Diamond Court in Beijing at the ATP 500 tournament in China. The world No. 1, and defending champion having won last season's final against Russia's Daniil Medvedev (7-6, 7-6), defeated Chilean tennis player Nicolas Jarry in the first match after two hours of play.
The two had only one previous meeting, at the 's-Hertogenbosch tournament in 2019, where Jarry won in straight sets (7-6, 6-3). It was a challenging and demanding start for Sinner, with Jarry playing an excellent first set and closing it at 6-4. The first game was one-sided, with the world No. 1 keeping Jarry scoreless. Jarry leveled the set at 1-1, conceding only two points to Sinner and holding serve.
The second game went to the Italian, who served well. In front of almost empty stands, Jarry made it 2-2. Sinner held his serve to go up 3-2. Three strong games from Jarry allowed him to come back and take a 5-3 lead. Sinner stayed in the set, making it 4-5, but the Chilean, after missing the first set point with a double fault, converted the second to win the first set. It ended 4-6.
From the second set onwards, Jarry couldn't maintain the same pace and intensity, gradually fading. Sinner capitalized on the opportunity and found the right measures to surprise his opponent. The first game of the second set saw the Italian blank Jarry. At 0-40 for Sinner, Jarry saved two break points but, for the first time in the match, was forced to surrender his serve. The Italian took a 3-0 lead without dropping a point in the third game. Jarry narrowed the gap, but Sinner extended his lead to 4-1.
The Chilean held his serve to make it 4-2, but Sinner blanked him in the next game (5-2). Jannik clawed back from 40-0 in the eighth game but then conceded: 5-3. Sinner took the second set 6-3, leveling the match.
In the third set, Sinner dominated, and after losing the third game on Jarry's serve, he stretched his lead authoritatively to close out the match. Sinner maintained a two-game lead with an ace in the fourth game. Another break by the South Tyrolean increased his advantage over the Chilean.
Sinner soared to 5-1 and sealed the match with another break, winning 6-1. Sinner only faced difficulties in the first set; after that, the match was smooth sailing, ending 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. In 116 minutes, the world No. 1 finished off Jarry and advanced to the round of 16, where he will face either Russia's Roman Safiullin or Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka.
