Jannik Sinner advanced to the Indian Wells third round with little fuss, defeating Dalibor Svrcina in double-quick time.
Sinner was praised ahead of Indian Wells and should be in line for further plaudits after beating Svrcina 6-1, 6-1 on Friday evening.
Sinner, the world number two, has failed to make his mark at the start of this year, having been defeated by Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open and by Jakub Mensik in Qatar.
What would have happened if Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner played at the same time as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal?
However, a strong run in California could see him close the rankings gap to Carlos Alcaraz ahead of the Miami Masters later this month.
Sinner wants to make history in the sport; that much is clear. He achieved just that by defeating Svrcina this week.
Jannik Sinner has won his first 50 matches against opponents ranked outside the ATP top 50
As per OptaAce, only four top-five ATP players since 1973 have begun their career by going 50-0 against opponents ranked outside the ATP top 50.
John McEnroe [pictured below], Jimmy Connors and Guillermo Vilas were the first three ATP players to accomplish this feat.
Jannik Sinner has now added his name to that list, following his victory over Svrcina on Friday.
The Italian should face a tougher test on Sunday evening when he steps onto court to face Denis Shapovalov in the Indian Wells third round.
Shapovalov, the world number 39, has defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas and Tomas Etcheverry in his first two rounds at the event.
Sinner has won one of his two matches against the Canadian.
Shapovalov emerged victorious from their first match at the 2021 Australian Open; and four years later, Sinner had his revenge by beating the Canadian at the 2025 US Open.
Jannik Sinner’s tough match against Denis Shapovalov
Sinner will have to be wary of Shapovalov, who threatened an upset when they last played each other in New York.
Sinner fell a set behind against the Canadian, before recovering to win 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.
A few months earlier, Sinner was almost upset at Wimbledon by Grigor Dimitrov, who was two sets up against the Italian when he suffered a pectoral tear.
Speaking to reporters in New York, Sinner spoke about what Dimitrov and Shapovalov did well.
“Yeah, serving very well, pushing a lot,” Sinner said. “And also, I’m not a machine, you know [smiling]. I also struggle sometimes.
If you were in charge of tennis, what is the first rule you would change?
“Today I felt like from my side I didn’t struggle. I was playing great tennis, and he also. And then the match is there.
“Yeah, as I always say, when I go in matches, I just want to feel well prepared. If I feel like that, for me, it’s a good feeling stepping on court, because I feel safe about my weapons kind of, but in the other way, match is always different than the practice hit or however you feel like.
“You just have to stay there mentally. Of course, as I said before, Denis is an incredible player. He has shown this over and over again. He won two titles this year.
“He is in good shape, good form, I think we saw this today. Serving very well, returning well, you know, and then everything can happen.”
