Jannik Sinner extends his incredible streak against players outside top 20 to 48-0
Jannik Sinner was made to work for his opening-round win at the China Open, but the world No 1 produced a come-from-behind victory to stretch his current unbeaten run against players outside the top 20.
The two-time Grand Slam winner has not lost against a player outside the top 20 since the fourth round of the 2023 US Open when he was beaten by the unseeded Stan Wawrinka.
Since then Sinner has notched up 48 consecutive wins against opponents who are ranked outside the top 20 with his latest victim Nicolas Jarry currently down at No 28 in the ATP Rankings.
The win was also Sinner’s 12th in a row as he won seven matches in a row en route to lifting the US Open trophy and four matches during his Cincinnati Open title run.
He is just four wins shy of his 16-0 unbeaten run at the start of the 2024 season while his overall best unbeaten run is 19-0.
Andrey Rublev is the last player to defeat the Italian with the Russian winning their quarter-final clash at the Canadian Open, but Sinner is now 56-5 for the year with Carlos Alcaraz (two wins), Stefanos Tsitsipas and Rublev the other players to beat him.
Jarry threatened to join that elite list as he stunned the reigning US Open champion with a break in the seventh game of the opening set, but Sinner drew level thanks to an early break in the second set before completing the 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory.
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“He played good tennis,” the Italian said. “In the first set I was struggling to return his serve and he broke me. I just tried to stay there mentally. The first round at any tournament is never easy and playing against him is very tough. But I am happy about the performance and how I ended the match.”
The 23-year-old added: “The first serve was good, the second I have to improve a little.
“He was returning aggressively, so it is not easy. From after US Open we tried to work very hard, change a few things but happy with my process.”
And there could be a full circle moment in the second round as Sinner could meet three-time Grand Slam winner Wawrinka, but the Swiss will need to get past Roman Safiullin first.
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