(source : ANI) ( Photo Credit : ani)
Jannik Sinner kicked off his China Open campaign with a strong performance, defeating Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-2 in the first round on Thursday. The Italian star, fresh off his US Open final loss to rival Carlos Alcaraz that cost him the ATP world No. 1 spot, showed no signs of rust in Beijing.
This marks Sinner’s return to the court since that tough defeat. At 24, he’s no stranger to success here—he won the China Open title in 2023 and made the final last year. After the match, Sinner told the ATP website he’s all about focus in early rounds. “I try to put a lot of concentration into the first-round matches because I know that many things can go wrong,” he said. “After you usually find your rhythm, your pace, the speed of the courts is much better. I try to prepare myself in the best possible way. I arrived here quite early to assess the conditions.”
Sinner praised his opponent too, calling Cilic a tough challenge with a high peak. “I am very happy to deliver this kind of performance today,” he added. “I managed to break him quite early in both sets, which gave me the confidence to keep going.”
Meanwhile, world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz shook off an ankle injury scare to advance, beating Sebastian Baez 6-4, 6-2 in another China Open first-round thriller. The Spaniard, a six-time Grand Slam winner, hit the deck just 20 minutes in, grabbing his left ankle in pain after chasing a drop shot. The crowd went silent as trainers helped him up, but Alcaraz pushed through.
It happened in the fifth game of the first set, with the score tied at 2-2. He fell backward, clutching his head and ankle. After treatment, he broke Baez to take a 5-4 lead. Rain then paused play for 20 minutes, giving Alcaraz time to tape up and recover. When action resumed, he dominated, wrapping up the win in 90 minutes total.
Speaking afterward to Olympics.com, Alcaraz focused on the positives. “I think I played a great level of tennis besides what happened at the beginning,” he said. “I am just happy to get the win and happy that I was able to play until the end.” He admitted the initial worry was real but eased up quickly. “I feel like it was unlucky. I was feeling good, and it was about running to a key drop shot… I was worried because, in the first minutes of playing, my ankle did not feel good at all. But then after a while, I just started to feel a little bit better.”
Alcaraz, who’s optimistic about his next China Open match against Zizou Bergs on Saturday, isn’t taking chances. “I do not know, it is going to be an important day and a half I have ahead,” he said. “We will see what happens. I will do whatever it takes to be in a good state, and I’m ready to play in the next round.” Tennis fans will be watching closely as both stars chase glory in Beijing.
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