WATCH: Aggressive Jannik Sinner slides past Diego Schwartzman into the third round
Jannik Sinner began his Barcelona Open title push by brushing aside Diego Schwartzman to secure his spot in the round of 16.
Sinner has certainly amazed the crowd with his recent performances as he starred on the hard-courts with the hope of carrying that form over to the clay. His last appearance on red dirt came in the semi-final of the Monte Carlo Masters last week where he lost against Holger Rune.
The Italian’s display against Schwartzman will certainly give his fans hope that a second title on clay is not too far away as he dispatched the Argentine 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and 40 minutes.
The 21-year-old delivered some thunderous strikes that were too powerful for Schwartzman to handle as he dictated the game with an aggressive play style that was a sight to behold.
The fourth seed didn’t only put up an excellent display of athleticism and power, but also showed off some clinical soft-handed shots against his more experience rival.
“I think I started very well, especially in return games,” the Italian said. “I tried to stay quite aggressive, made a couple of unforced errors, but I have to remind myself that this is the first round for me. I tried to stay calm and obviously try in the best way in important moments.”
It was a clinical display from the talented youngster who barely gave his opponent any time to breathe as he made a pacey push to lead 5-2, before grabbing a sixth game after the Argentine could not find his rhythm.
The second set saw Schwartzman fighting back with some vigour, tying with his opponent at 4-4, before being dismissed by the talented Italian, who finished off the match the way he started it – with aggression.
The world No 8 is set to face Yoshihito Nishioka on Thursday after the Japanese player defeated David Goffin 6-1, 7-5.
Sinner spoke about his preparation for his next match by saying: “Now the main focus is to recover for tomorrow, and I restart tomorrow hopefully with better feelings than today. Diego is a very tough player to play against and I am very happy.”
He added: “I came here with a positive mindset. I knew that the first round was going to be a tough one, so I also tried to adapt myself to the conditions and the court. Obviously it’s very nice [with] the crowd here.”
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