Easy victory for Jannik against Popyrin and in the round of 16 he will face the great revelation of the tournament who eliminated Fils and Tiafoe
The wind sweeps away the morning clouds on the Foro Italico and when Jannik Sinner takes to the pitch on the Centrale there is an air that is more summer than spring. Rome is crazy about the number one in the world, an organization that finally after 50 years the title of the Italian Internationals can return to an Italian. He knows it and hopes so too Adriano Panatta which triumphed in 1976 and which will reward this year’s winner. The absence of Carlos Alcaraz opens the doors of Rome and Paris to Sinner, even if in tennis nothing is taken for granted as demonstrated by the delay in Sinner’s match because the American Coco Gouff (much loved by the Roman public) reversed her match against Jovic by coming back from 7-5, 5-3 to then go on to win the third set 6-2.
Surgical sinner
Between Sinner and Alexei Popyrin there was no match: the score (6-2, 6-0) says everything about the absolute superiority of the world number one who almost worked harder at the end of the match to please the fans looking for autographs (more than ten minutes after the end of the match with an availability that was not obvious) than on the pitch against Popyrin. A training session lasting one hour and six minutes amidst the jubilation of the fans at the Foro Italico. . Tomorrow in the round of 16 Sinner will face Andrea Pellegrino in an all-Italian derby. Sinner likes these internal rivalries: “It’s nice when you can train together. We all always try to give our best, there’s always a hint of competition.” At the end of the match Sinner was satisfied: “The conditions were particular because there was a bit of wind, but Popyrin didn’t serve very well and I managed to break straight away. It’s always nice to play here in Rome, the crowd helps me a lot.”
Pellegrino’s feat
On the threshold of thirty years Andrea Pellegrino is the great revelation of Romewill play against Sinner after beating two seeds: Tiafoe and Fils. “I didn’t have to play in Rome due to back pain, but I cared too much about this tournament. I’m very happy, it was a really tough match, the conditions weren’t easy because there was also a lot of wind. I didn’t take advantage of the set points, but luckily I took home the first set.” Andrea Pellegrino said it after having snatched the pass to the round of 16 of the Italian Internazionali. “It’s fantastic, when I came here I never expected this type of result, I’m really happy with my tennis – he added -. I felt good from the start and my level was growing all the time. I fought on every point.” Finally a joke about his possible opponent in the round of 16 who could be Sinner: “We played against him seven years ago, it was a great experience for me with him.”
