ROME: Jannik Sinner breezed into the last 16 of the Italian Open on Monday after swatting aside Alexei Popyrin in straight sets 6-2, 6-0 and continuing his bid for a first title in Rome.

The world number one easily won his 25th straight match, taking just over an hour to see off Australia’s Popyrin and set up an Italian derby with Andrea Pellegrino in the next round.

Pellegrino, 29, who beat 20th seed Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (10/8), 6-1, is a qualifier ranked 155 in the world who before this week had never played in the main draw of a Masters 1000 tournament.

Sinner, meanwhile, is trying to extend his own record-breaking run of overall victories in the ATP’s top-ranked events after having won his last five.

Sinner joins Novak Djokovic as the only player to win a year’s first 25 Master 1000 matches, with the Serbian tennis icon’s record run stretching to 31 matches in 2011.

Popyrin was suffocated by Sinner and made 23 unforced errors on his way to a comprehensive defeat.

Should Sinner prevail at the Foro Italico he will be the first Italian to win there since Adriano Panatta 50 years ago, and would complete his collection of Master 1000 tournaments.

Former Rome champion Daniil Medvedev gets his tournament underway against Pablo Llamas Ruiz after a second-round walkover gave the Russian seventh seed automatic passage into the third.

In the women’s section, Coco Gauff survived a scare against Iva Jovic coming back from a match point to win 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 and reach the quarter-finals.

American star Gauff, who is reigning French Open champion and reached the final in Rome last year, won a draining match on windy centre court which took the best part of three hours.

The 22-year-old has struggled on clay this season, with a last-16 exit in the Madrid Open coming after a disappointing run to the quarter-finals in Stuttgart.

Gauff was so annoyed with herself shortly after saving a match point against the serve at 5-4 down in the second set that she smacked herself in the head.

But she recovered to eventually see off her fellow American and set up a clash with Mirra Andreeva in the last eight.

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2026