Sinner slips past Dutch lucky loser

Jannik Sinner managed a 6-4, 6-2 trip into the fourth round of the Rome Masters on Monday as his Dutch opponent felt the full effects of the slippery Rome clay.

The top-seeded world No. 1 who is playing his first event back after serving a three-month punishment for inadvertent doping, advanced past qualifying lucky loser Jesper de Jong in 93 minutes.

But the outsider took a serious tumble as he lost his feet on slick, sun-dried clay trailign a set and 3-1.

De Jong slipped, rolled and gripped his right wrist while lying on his back before making his way to the chair.

A game later, he was seen by the trainer for wrist taping but never proved to be the threat he was in the opening set as he fought back from 4-1 down to 4-all before Sinner won the opener.

“It was obvious he hurt himself,” the Italian winner said. “I hope it’s nothing serious and I wish him the best.

“He’s a great player and an even better human.”

Sinner swept the final 12 points of the victory which puts him into a test against Francisco Cerundolo, a 6-2, 6-4 winner over Austrian qualifier Stefan Ofner,

“This was a completely different match than the first one (on Saturday).

“I started well but had a big drop. I broke at 4-4 and was able to play better and get a feel for my game.”

Argentine Cerundolo is the winner of the most clay matches this season (18) and defeated world No. 2 Alexander Zverev in Madrid last month.

“Every match is a tough one, I lost to him here on this court the last time (2023 fourth round). I’ll have to raise my level.

“But this is the kind of challenge I need to understand where my game is.”

Sinner has now won his last 23 matches.

Main photo:- Jannik Sinner on his way to a 23 match winning streak – by ATPTour.com