Jannik Sinner swept to victory against Marin Cilic on Thursday, defeating the 2014 US Open champion 6-2, 6-2, at the China Open.
Sinner was simply superb during the contest against Cilic, who has enjoyed a resurgent year on the ATP Tour.
The world number two will be hoping to continue this good form into his next match against Cincinnati Open semi-finalist Terence Atmane.
This was Sinner’s first match since losing the US Open final to Carlos Alcaraz, and the Italian showed little sign of a post-major hangover.
Fans of the Italian will also be pleased to know that Sinner has improved upon a shot that let him down against Alcaraz at the US Open.
Jannik Sinner’s excellent serving display against Marin Cilic
One particular area of Jannik Sinner’s game let him down during the US Open final: his serve.
The Italian rarely looked comfortable on serve. Sofascore’s tracking revealed that Sinner made just 48 per cent of his first serves while offering Alcaraz 11 break-point opportunities.
This was a sentiment agreed upon by Andy Roddick, who noted that Sinner’s serve was ‘as bad as it’s been probably in a year.’
However, the Italian has bounced back superbly, recording an excellent serving performance against Marin Cilic on Thursday.
As per Sofascore, Sinner made 77 per cent of his first serves, winning 75 per cent of those points.
He also won 64 per cent of his second serve points, while saving the only break-point opportunity he offered during the match.
Sinner defeated Terence Atmane in the Cincinnati Open semi-finals
Sinner will be hoping to continue his good form against Terence Atmane in the next round.
Atmane enjoyed a fairytale run to the Cincinnati Open semi-finals in August, defeating Joao Fonseca, Flavio Cobolli and Holger Rune.
He then ran into Jannik Sinner, who defeated the Frenchman 7-6, 6-2.
The Frenchman, known for having a particularly powerful serve, was then forced out of the US Open due to injury, before returning at the Chengdu Open.
After losing in the first round, Atmane travelled to Beijing, where he has won two qualifying rounds before defeating home favourite Zhang Zhizhen in the main draw.
