BEIJING: World number one Jannik Sinner fought back to launch the defence of his China Open title with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over 28th-ranked Chilean Nicolas Jarry on Thursday.

The US Open champion next faces veteran three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka, who is a wildcard entry in Beijing, or Russia’s Roman Safiullin.

The 23-year-old Sinner arrived in the Chinese capital fresh from winning in New York for his second major title, having triumphed at the Australian Open at the start of the year.

Sinner faced Jarry in red-hot form and on an 11-match winning streak. Sinner made that 12, but not before suffering a scare.

The two went toe-to-toe in the first set but it was the Chilean who got in front when he broke for a 4-3 lead when the world number one fired long.

Jarry consolidated without losing a point in the eighth game and, after double-faulting on his first set point, sealed the set with his fifth ace of the match.

Going behind seemed to sting a re-energised Sinner into action.

The top seed raced to a 3-0 lead in the second set, eventually wra­p­ping the set up after briefly thre­a­tening to blow his advantage.

Sinner tamed Jarry’s big serve to start the deciding set and grab an early break, winning the game with a terrific crosscourt backhand.

Sinner broke again for 4-1 and was well on the way to an ultimately comfortable win.

His main rivals in the Chinese capital will be four-time major champion Carlos Alcaraz and the Russian duo of Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev, the third and fourth seeds.

On the women’s side of the China Open, Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo outlasted China’s Xinyu Gao in the fourth-longest match of the Open Era.

One of several players to overcome a first-set stumble in the first round, Sorribes Tormo completed her 6-7 (4), 7-5, 7-5 victory in four hours and 15 minutes. It was the longest match on the WTA Tour since the 2011 Australian Open.

It was the second four-hour match on the tour this month, following Laura Siegemund’s 4-hour, 9-minute defeat of Xiyu Wang at the Thailand Open.

Sorribes Tormo, 27, is known for enduring gruelling matches, having participated in four of the 13 longest slugfests of the Open Era: a win over Camila Osorio at Cleveland in 2022 (3:54), a win over Camila Giorgi at Rome in 2021 (3:51), and a loss to Beatriz Haddad Maia at the 2023 French Open (3:51). Next up for Sorribes Tormo is No. 18 seed Madison Keys.

Ashlyn Krueger completed a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 comeback in just over two hours against Yafan Wang of China. Krueger converted all five break chances, including three in a row to open the deciding set.

Krueger also saved six of the 10 break points she faced to set up a second-round match with No. 29 seed Lulu Sun of New Zealand.

Also rallying to victory in similar fashion at the WTA 1000 event on Thursday were Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu, Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto, Denmark’s Clara Tauson and Osorio.

Begu beat China’s Ye-Xin Ma 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, Cocciaretto overcame Australia’s Arina Rodionova 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, Tauson took down Britain’s Harriet Dart 5-7, 6-4, 6 -1 and Osorio defeated Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic also went the distance for a 7-6 (5), 0-6, 6-3 defeat of China’s Xiyu Wang.

Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima was among the day’s winners in straight sets, ousting China’s Shi Han 6-3, 6-4. Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova defeated Australia’s Kimberly Birrell 6-2, 6-4. Croatia’s Jana Fett beat China’s Meiling Wang 6-3, 6-4. Spain’s Cristina Bucsa was a 6-3, 6-2 winner against China’s Xinxin Yao. Nadia Podoroska of Argentina, Sijia Wei of China and Jaqueline Cristian of Romania also advanced.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2024