Sinner Powers Past Schwartzman Into Wimbledon Third Round
Returning Wimbledon quarter-finalist Jannik Sinner stepped up his 2023 campaign with a dominant victory against Diego Schwartzman Wednesday evening at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. After navigating a tight opening set, the Italian cruised to a 7-5, 6-1, 6-2 win, backing up an opening victory in which he lost just six games against Juan Manuel Cerundolo.
"In the beginning I thought we both were a little bit tight. After, I played a little bit better and I hit quite hard, especially in the third set. It really was a good match," Sinner said after improving to 4-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series against the Argentine.
Sinner has reached the quarter-finals once at each Grand Slam tournament and is seeking his first return trip to that stage this fortnight. Last year in the Wimbledon quarters, he led eventual champion Novak Djokovic two sets to love before a five-set defeat.
Wednesday's victory improved the eighth seed to 34-10 this season, his 34 tour-level victories trailing only Daniil Medvedev (42) and Carlos Alcaraz (41) in 2023.
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From 5-5 in the opening set, Sinner took over on No. 1 Court with powerful baseline hitting, continuing his blistering form on the London lawns. A brief pause as the show court's roof was closed between sets two and three did little to stop the Italian's momentum. Schwartzman broke serve for the first time to level the third set at 2-2, but Sinner quickly recovered to charge through the finish just before 9 p.m. local time.
"I felt like I was serving very well in important moments," he assessed. "I was trying somehow to play my game. Moving him around is not easy because he's so fast, so I tried to overpower him a little bit. He's a good friend of mine, we play doubles together sometimes and he's such a nice man, so it's always tough to play against a friend."
The Italian finished with 14 aces and an 80 per cent win rate on first serve (37/46), firing 37 winners in the two-hour match. Next up for the Italian will be Aleksandar Vukic or Quentin Halys, who will meet on Thursday in the second round.
Schwartzman was denied a third trip to the Wimbledon third round. He has never been beyond that stage at the grass-court major.