Sinner Eases Into Italian Open Last 16

Rome: Jannik Sinner cruised into the last 16 of the Italian Open on Monday after comfortably beating lucky loser Jesper de Jong 6-4, 6-2 in front of a delighted crowd in Rome.

World number one Sinner continued his Foro Italico comeback from a three-month doping ban by dealing with De Jong and setting up a clash with Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo in the next round on Tuesday.

Sinner was knocked out in the last 16 by Cerundolo the last time he played here, in 2023, and he is under no illusions that the 17th seed will be a big step up after two low-ranked opponents.

"Tomorrow will be a big day for me, because I'll need to raise my game against him," Sinner told reporters.

"He's played some really good tennis recently, he got to the semi-finals in Madrid and he's playing some real tennis. He'll be confident."

The over 10,000 fans crammed into the centre court stands hope Sinner can end a 49-year wait for an Italian winner of the men's tournament in the capital.

But Monday's win was in reality another warm-up for the 23-year-old's stated objective of arriving at the French Open in top form.

De Jong, ranked at a career-high 93rd in the world, offered some resistance in a low-key contest in which Sinner showed signs of rustiness.

Sinner threw away a three-game lead when 4-1 up in the first set before eventually going ahead in the match but he saw out the contest with little fuss, helped in part by De Jong hurting his wrist in a fall in the fourth game of the second set.

Sinner's compatriot Jasmine Paolini cruised past Jelena Ostapenko and into the women's quarter-finals, easing past her Latvian opponent in straight sets 7-5, 6-2.

Sixth seed Paolini will face Diana Shnaider in the last eight as she eyes another deep run in a 1000 series tournament after losing to world number one Aryna Sabalenka, who later takes on Marta Kostyuk, in the Miami semi-finals.

"Today was unbelievable. The atmosphere was really, really, really great," Paolini said.

"We really enjoy being in this era of the Italian tennis. We are like a team. Everybody is pushing each other."

Matteo Berrettini will follow Sinner in a tough clash with sixth seed Casper Ruud, as fans hope for a hat-trick of wins on centre court for their local heroes.

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