ROME: Jannik Sinner came through the first true test of his comeback from a doping ban with Tuesday’s straight-sets win over Francisco Cerundolo which took the world number one into the Italian Open quarter-finals.
Italian Sinner bested 17th seed Cerundolo 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 in a match which was delayed by a couple of hours due to a torrential downpour to set up a last-eight clash with either Casper Ruud or Jaume Munar.
Cerundolo knocked out Sinner in the last 16 the last time he played here in 2023, but that was before the 23-year-old had became the tournament-winning machine he is today.
Sinner is finding his feet in Rome, his first tournament since the end of a three-month suspension accepted in February from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) following two positive tests for traces of clostebol in March last year.
His true target is the French Open which follows his home event and he showed some signs of rediscovering the form which has won him three Grand Slams and last year’s ATP Finals.
Sinner had to battle through the first set against spirited Cerundolo but once he prevailed in the tie-break he built up an unassailable lead by winning four games in a row in the second.
The packed center court stands hailed their hero after he took the win at the fourth time of asking and continue his bid for a first Rome title.
The rain which delayed Sinner’s match had a much bigger impact on his compatriot Lorenzo Musetti, who reached the last eight after having to wait nearly three hours at match point before he could finish off his victory over Daniil Medvedev.
World number nine Musetti will face either reigning Rome champion Alexander Zverev in the last eight after seeing off Medvedev 7-5, 6-4.
Musetti held his nerve to win on the first point after the long break and made sure that his first week in the top 10 of the world rankings would bring another solid run in a big tournament, after he reached the final in Monte Carlo and the last four in Madrid.
Organizers later said that Musetti would have to pull out of his doubles campaign alongside Lorenzo Sonego due to an injury to his right arm.
Fellow Italian Jasmine Paolini was playing on center court at the same time as the first part of Musetti’s match but managed to complete her comeback from a set down to beat Diana Shnaider 6-7 (1/7), 6-4, 6-2 just before the worst of the weather hit.
Paolini is the first Italian woman to reach the Rome semifinals since 2014, when her doubles partner Sara Errani got to the final only to be soundly beaten by Serena Williams.
Earlier Carlos Alcaraz beat Karen Khachanov 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 in a hugely entertaining opening match of the day on center court.
Third seed Alcaraz had never lost a set in his previous four meetings with Khachanov but was forced to fight to get past Russia’s Khachanov.
The Spaniard took his 12th clay-court win of the year to set up a clash in the last eight with fifth seed Jack Draper, a winner over France’s Corentin Moutet.
“It was tiring. You know the match was really tough. I had to run. I had to run a lot,” said Alcaraz.
“I didn’t play well. I just fought and I’m just really happy about it.”
Alcaraz needs to get to the Rome semis not just for a chance at his third title of the season but also to secure a top-two seeding at the French Open which begins later this month.
Sinner moves through gears to reach Italian Open quarters
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Sinner moves through gears to reach Italian Open quarters
- Italian Sinner bested 17th seed Cerundolo 7-6 (7/2), 6-3
- Sinner had to battle through the first set against spirited Cerundolo
Liverpool without Salah beats Inter in Champions League. Barcelona and Bayern win
- Karl became the youngest player to score in three consecutive Champions League games
- Headers by Jules Koundé three minutes apart gave Barcelona a 2-1 comeback victory over Eintracht Frankfurt
After leaving Mohamed Salah in England, Liverpool got a much-needed boost with a 1-0 win over Inter Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday, while Barcelona and Bayern Munich celebrated comeback wins and Chelsea lost.
With Salah out of the squad following his public criticism of the club last week, Dominik Szoboszlai stepped up instead to score the 88th-minute penalty which earned a 1-0 win over one of the competition’s best-performing teams.
It was all the more valuable for coming after a run of one win in six games in all competitions for Arne Slot’s under-pressure team, which moved up to eighth.
Liverpool’s players thought they had taken the lead with Ibrahima Konate’s header in the 31st minute but, after a video review that lasted more than four minutes, it was ruled out for handball as Virgil van Dijk had earlier nodded the ball on to the arm of Hugo Ekitike.
Having taken away a goal from Liverpool, VAR came to the visitors’ aid when it spotted that Alessandro Bastoni had tugged Florian Wirtz’s shirt in the area, with the midfielder flailing to the ground. Szoboszlai converted the penalty.
Bayern’s new star shines
Bayern’s 17-year-old midfielder Lennart Karl produced an audacious bit of skill to continue his high-scoring start to life in the Champions League in a 3-1 win over Sporting Lisbon earlier Tuesday.
Karl scored his third goal in four career Champions League games, controlling a pass from Konrad Laimer in mid-air before volleying a shot from a tight angle over two onrushing defenders and past the goalkeeper.
It was part of a 12-minute, three-goal turnaround for Bayern after Joshua Kimmich’s own-goal handed Sporting the lead after João Simões put Bayern under pressure on the counter.
Serge Gnabry leveled for Bayern when he was left unmarked at a corner in the 65th, before Karl scored Bayern’s second in the 69th and defender Jonathan Tah made it 3-1 in the 77th.
Widely viewed as German soccer’s best young talent this season, Karl became Bayern’s youngest-ever Champions League scorer in October on his first start in the competitions.
Late on, Alphonso Davies came off the bench for the Canadian left back’s first game since March after a serious knee injury.
Chelsea loses
Chelsea was beaten in the Champions League for the first time in nearly three months as Belgium forward Charles De Ketelaere set up the equalizer and scored an 83rd-minute winner as Atalanta came from behind to win 2-1.
Chelsea, which went ahead through Joao Pedro, dropped out of the top eight automatic qualifying spots with its second loss.
It was a fourth win for Atalanta, which climbed to third and is the highest-placed Italian team.
Gianluca Scamacca made it 1-1 by heading home a cross from De Ketelaere, who then drove in a shot that Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez got a hand to but couldn’t keep out.
Koundé drives Barcelona comeback
Headers by Jules Koundé three minutes apart gave Barcelona a 2-1 comeback victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.
Marcus Rashford assisted in the first goal in the 50th and Lamine Yamal in the second in the 53rd.
The visitors had taken the lead with a goal by Ansgar Knauff in a 21st-minute breakaway at the renovated Camp Nou stadium, which still can’t hold full capacity.
Son watches Spurs win
Son Heung-min said a belated goodbye to Tottenham as his former club moved up to ninth after beating Slavia Prague 3-0 on an own goal and two penalties in a game overshadowed by a dispute over moving a rainbow flag showing support for the LGBTQ+ community.
Julián Alvarez scored for the ninth time in his last nine league-phase appearances to lead Atletico Madrid to a 3-2 come-from-behind win at PSV Eindhoven.
Marseille held on for a 3-2 win over Union Saint-Gilloise, whose players and fans twice celebrated what they thought were goals to level the score late on, only for both to be ruled out for narrow offsides on video review.
Folarin Balogun bundled the ball over the line from close range to give Monaco a 1-0 win over Galatasaray.
Olympiakos broke through a determined Kairat Almaty defense to take a 1-0 win in Kazakhstan and boost its hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages. Gelson Martins scored for the Greek side in the 73rd.
