MELBOURNE [AUSTRALIA]: Jannik Sinner of Italy produced a stunning performance to earn his second straight-sets victory of the Australian Open on Wednesday, breezing past Argentina's Tomas Martin Etcheverry in John Cain Arena.
The 21-year-old Italian took full advantage of his opportunity on one of three roofed courts where he raced into the third round defeating Etcheverry 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in a match that lasted for one hour, 44 minutes.
Sinner, the 15th seed, won easily after converting on all five of his break points and preventing a break opportunity on his own service.
With 32 victories, he controlled the majority of the rallies on serve and return. He then emphasised his advantage by hitting the net 22 times and scoring 20 of those points.
Sinner, an ATP Tour champion with six titles, advanced to the quarterfinals of the AO last year but lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas. The two are slated to play again in this year's fourth round, but the Italian must first defeat Marton Fucsovics or Lloyd Harris, and Tsitsipas must also advance to the round of 16.
Sinner has surpassed Matteo Berrettini to take the top Italian spot in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings following Berrettini's five-set loss to Andy Murray in the opening round.
Holding steady at No. 16, Sinner is one spot in front of fellow countryman Lorenzo Musetti, who was defeated by Harris in the first round. "I am very happy to be in the next round.
Very happy to play again here on this court, especially today, with the roof. Outside it's raining a lot, so hopefully, it's not going to rain in the next days," Sinner said in his on-court interview, before thanking the fans for their support.
"For sure the level today was good. I served well. I returned very good also today because I think he's (Etcheverry) a very good server," Sinner added.
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