Fourth-seeded Jannik Sinner of Italy had little trouble moving into the fourth round at the Australian Open, turning back 26th-seeded Sebastian Baez of Argentina 6-0, 6-1, 6-3 on Friday in Melbourne.
After cruising through the first two sets, Sinner produced the break he needed in the fifth game of the third set and went on to complete the straight-set triumph in 1 hour, 52 minutes.
Sinner had to rally for a victory over Baez last year in China, but the gap in talent was on full display this time.
“I was returning much better,” he said postmatch. “The conditions are a little bit different. We played in Shanghai (where) the ball is a little bit lower. Here, it bounces a little bit higher so I tried to let it bounce.
“In general, I played really well and I feel great here.”
Sinner took an extra week of rest after leading Italy to the Davis Cup title in 2023.
“I’m really happy how I’m feeling right now,” he said. “At the moment, I’m going really well.”
Offsetting his 27 unforced errors, Sinner had 34 winners to Baez’s 13 and won seven of his 12 break-point opportunities. He also won 78 percent of his first-serve points to Baez’s 54 percent.
Sinner, 22, will take on Karen Khachanov in a fourth-round match. Khachanov, a Russian who is seeded 15th, survived a tense battle with Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic, winning 6-4, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (5) in a match that lasted nearly 3 1/2 hours.
After dropping the first two sets, Machac used 15 winners to Khachanov’s five in taking the third set.
The 6-foot-6 Russian used his strong serve to finish off Machac, who was coming off a straight-set victory over 17th-seeded American Frances Tiafoe in the second round.
Khachanov won five of his six service points in the fourth-set tiebreaker while sealing the victory.
–Field Level Media