MELBOURNE: Defending champion Jannik Sinner advanced into the quarterfinals of the ongoing Australian Open, defeating compatriot Luciano Darderi 6-1, 6-3, 7-6(2) in a largely dominant display on Monday.
The current world number two outclassed Darderi 6-1, 6-3, 7-6(2) to qualify for his fourth Australian Open quarterfinal, levelling with stars like Grigor Dimitrov, Kei Nishikori and Stefanos Tsitsipas for the fourth-most appearances in the final eight Down Under among active players. The match lasted two hours and nine minutes. This was Sinner’s maiden clash with Darderi, and he dictated the terms with clean hitting and sharp serves, but was threatened by a late surge by Darderi from the baseline, levelling the scores at 4-4, the match shifted to a tie-break where Sinner came out on top.
Sinner was at the top of his game, striking with astonishing authority and precision. Having struggled with cramps in his previous match against Eliot Spizzirri, he had some troubles in the final set against Darderi as well, both physically and in terms of the game, as the final set headed to a tie-breaker.
But nonetheless, Sinner’s class was too much, and he prevailed in a battle that got a little testing for him towards the end. “It was very difficult. We are good friends off the court, that’s also a small difficulty to put away,” Sinner said of Darderi as per ATP’s official website. “In the third set I had a couple of break chances, but I could not use them… Then I got very tight, so I am very happy that I closed it in three sets,” he added.
