Jannik Sinner hits a return during the men's singles round of 32 match between Jannik Sinner of Italy and Alexei Popyrin of Australia at the ATP Italian Open in Rome, Italy, May 11, 2026. (Xinhua/Wang Kaiyan)
ROME, May 12 (Xinhua) -- World No. 1 Jannik Sinner extended his ATP Masters 1000 winning streak to 30 matches with a straight-sets win over Australia's Alexei Popyrin at the Italian Open on Monday, just one win away from equaling Novak Djokovic's record streak of 31 consecutive Masters 1000 victories set in 2011.
Sinner also became just the second player after Djokovic to win the first 25 Masters 1000 matches of a season.
Sinner came out firing from the opening game, breaking Popyrin immediately to seize control. The Italian consistently dictated the baseline rallies in the first set and wrapped it up 6-2 in just 39 minutes.
The second set turned into a one-sided affair as Sinner gave Popyrin little room to respond. Roared on by the home crowd, the top seed reeled off six straight games to complete a dominant 6-0 set and book his place in the round of 16.
"He is a big server and his percentage was not very high, which helped me a little bit. But I have been returning the second serves very well and I am happy to be in the next round," Sinner said.
On the women's side, third seed Coco Gauff survived a major scare against fellow American Iva Jovic, saving a match point in a hard-fought 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 win after two hours and 45 minutes, while second seed Elena Rybakina and fourth seed Iga Swiatek both sailed into the quarterfinals. Chinese pair Jiang Xinyu and Xu Yifan exited in the doubles first round.
On Tuesday, Sinner will face fellow Italian Andrea Pellegrino, while men's second seed Alexander Zverev takes on 18th seed Luciano Darderi. In the women's draw, Gauff will meet eighth seed Mirra Andreeva. ■
Jannik Sinner hits a return during the men's singles round of 32 match between Jannik Sinner of Italy and Alexei Popyrin of Australia at the ATP Italian Open in Rome, Italy, May 11, 2026. (Xinhua/Wang Kaiyan)
Alexei Popyrin hits a return during the men's singles round of 32 match between Jannik Sinner of Italy and Alexei Popyrin of Australia at the ATP Italian Open in Rome, Italy, May 11, 2026. (Xinhua/Wang Kaiyan)
Jannik Sinner hits a return during the men's singles round of 32 match between Jannik Sinner of Italy and Alexei Popyrin of Australia at the ATP Italian Open in Rome, Italy, May 11, 2026. (Xinhua/Wang Kaiyan)
Jannik Sinner hits a return during the men's singles round of 32 match between Jannik Sinner of Italy and Alexei Popyrin of Australia at the ATP Italian Open in Rome, Italy, May 11, 2026. (Xinhua/Wang Kaiyan)
Jannik Sinner signs for fans after winning the men's singles round of 32 match between Jannik Sinner of Italy and Alexei Popyrin of Australia at the ATP Italian Open in Rome, Italy, May 11, 2026. (Xinhua/Wang Kaiyan)
