Jannik Sinner stormed into the Italian Open last 16 on Monday, dismantling Alexei Popyrin 6-2, 6-0 in a ruthless straight-sets display to keep alive his pursuit of a maiden title in Rome.
The world No. 1 stretched his winning streak to 25 matches, needing just over an hour to brush aside the Australian and book an all-Italian fourth-round clash with Andrea Pellegrino.
Pellegrino, 29, stunned 20th seed Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (10-8), 6-1 after entering the tournament as a qualifier ranked 155th in the world. Before this week, he had never featured in the main draw of a Masters 1000 event.
“It’s fun to play a derby in Italy. He’s having an incredible tournament with a lot of victories against some really good opponents,” Sinner told reporters.
“We played each other a long time ago, in 2019 in an ITF tournament, but he was a different player and I was a different player.”
Sinner, meanwhile, is trying to extend his own record-breaking run of victories in ATP Masters 1000 events after winning his last five tournaments at that level.
The 24-year-old joined Novak Djokovic as the only players to win the year’s first 25 Masters 1000 matches, with the Serbian star’s record run stretching to 31 matches in 2011.
Popyrin was suffocated by Sinner’s relentless pressure and committed 23 unforced errors in a comprehensive defeat.
The world No. 60 landed just 48% of his first serves, allowing Sinner to break serve five times and cruise through a match that was barely competitive.
“He’s a big server, so his percentage was not very high, which helped me a little bit for sure, but I returned second serves very well,” Sinner said.
Should Sinner prevail at the Foro Italico, he would become the first Italian man to win the tournament since Adriano Panatta 50 years ago and would complete his collection of Masters 1000 titles.
With great rival Carlos Alcaraz injured and Novak Djokovic eliminated early, Sinner will be the overwhelming favorite as he builds toward the French Open, which begins next week, where he is chasing a career Grand Slam.
Former Rome champion Daniil Medvedev gets his tournament underway against Pablo Llamas Ruiz after a second-round walkover handed the Russian seventh seed automatic passage into the third round.
Coco Gauff survived a scare against Iva Jovic, saving a match point before battling back to win 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 and reach the women’s quarterfinals.
Gauff, the reigning French Open champion who reached last year’s Rome final, came through a draining contest on a windy center court that lasted nearly three hours.
The 22-year-old has struggled on clay this season, with a last-16 exit in Madrid following a disappointing quarterfinal run in Stuttgart.
Gauff was so frustrated shortly after saving a match point at 5-4 down in the second set that she smacked herself on the head.
But she recovered to eventually overcome her fellow American and set up a clash with Mirra Andreeva in the last eight.
“It was really hard,” Gauff said.
“I think the conditions made it tough to play clean tennis. I’m really proud of how I was able to fight.”
Later, Naomi Osaka will face three-time Rome champion Iga Swiatek, who has not won a clay-court tournament since capturing the last of her four French Open titles in 2024.
Reaching the last eight would mark the best result of a difficult season for Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion, after last-16 exits at Indian Wells and the Madrid Open to Aryna Sabalenka.
