Sinner, Gauff advance to Italian Open last 16 after contrasting wins in Rome
Jannik Sinner moved into the last 16 of the Italian Open on Monday after a dominant 6-2, 6-0 win over Alexei Popyrin in Rome.
The world number one needed just 62 minutes to dispatch the Australian and record his 25th consecutive victory.
Sinner will now face fellow Italian Andrea Pellegrino in the next round after the qualifier defeated 20th seed Frances Tiafoe 7-6(8), 6-1.
Pellegrino, ranked 155 in the world, had never previously appeared in the main draw of a Masters 1000 tournament before this week.
Sinner is also chasing a sixth straight title in ATP top-level events.
The 24-year-old matched Novak Djokovic as the only players to win the first 25 Masters 1000 matches of a season.
Djokovic’s record stands at 31 matches in 2011.
Popyrin struggled throughout the contest, committing 23 unforced errors and landing only 48 per cent of his first serves.
Sinner broke serve five times in a one-sided encounter at the Foro Italico.
Victory in Rome would make Sinner the first Italian man to win the tournament since Adriano Panatta achieved the feat 50 years ago.
It would also complete his collection of Masters 1000 titles.
In the women’s draw, Coco Gauff fought back from a match point down to defeat Iva Jovic 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 and reach the quarter-finals.
The reigning French Open champion needed almost three hours to overcome her fellow American in a tense contest.
Gauff has endured a difficult clay-court season, exiting in the last 16 in Madrid after an earlier quarter-final finish in Stuttgart.
The American reacted in frustration after saving a match point while trailing 5-4 in the second set, briefly hitting herself on the head before recovering to seal victory.
She will now face Mirra Andreeva in the quarter-finals.
