Sinner safely through to French Open second round after seeing off Eubanks in straight sets
Jonathan Davies
May 27, 2024 19:49 MYT
May 27, 2024 19:49 MYT
Jannik Sinner made a strong start to his French Open title quest with a dominant straight-sets victory over Christoper Eubanks.
The second seed took just over two hours to wrap up a commanding 6-3 6-3 6-4 win against his American opponent on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.
Reigning Australian Open champion Sinner is one of the favourites to go all the way at Roland Garros this year, having also triumphed in Rotterdam and Miami in 2024.
Although, the Italian had not played since withdrawing from the Madrid Open earlier this month with a hip injury.
Nevertheless, he broke Eubanks, who reached last year's Wimbledon quarter-finals, three times on his way to taking the opening set.
Sinner, who will become the first Italian to top the ATP rankings should he reach the final this fortnight, broke early again in the next two sets to set up a second-round meeting with veteran Richard Gasquet.
4 - In the last 30 years, only four players have now won their first 8 Men's Singles Major matches of the season before turning 23: Roger Federer (2004) Rafael Nadal (2006 and 2009) Novak Djokovic (2008) Jannik Sinner (2024) Quartet.#rolandgarros | @rolandgarros @atptour pic.twitter.com/1pDB1QJgjr — OptaAce (@OptaAce) May 27, 2024
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Data Debrief: Sinner matches 'the big three'
Sinner, 22, became only the fourth player in the last 30 years to win his first eight men's single major matches of the season before turning 23, after Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
The Italian has now won 11 of his 12 matches at Roland Garros against players ranked outside the top 10, with his only such defeat coming against world number 79 Daniel Altmeier in last year's second round.