By Nick Mulvenney
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Fourth seed Jannik Sinner underlined his title credentials by racing into the second week of the Australian Open without dropping a set after a 6-0 6-1 6-3 demolition of Sebastian Baez in the third round on Friday.
The clean-hitting Italian banged down six aces and 34 winners to see off the Argentine 26th seed in less than two hours in cool and blustery conditions on Margaret Court Arena, sealing the deal with a seventh break of serve.
The 22-year-old was the hottest player on tour at the end of last season and led Italy to a first Davis Cup triumph in late November to conclude the season.
His decision to extend his holiday and skip the warm-up tournaments ahead of the year’s first Grand Slam raised some eyebrows, but Sinner felt it had been vindicated by his form in the first three rounds in Melbourne.
“In general, I feel really great here,” Sinner said. “I’m really happy with how I’m feeling right now.
“Obviously matches are a little bit different (from training) and let’s see how I react in the next rounds, but at the moment I’m going well.”
Sinner’s best run at the Australian Open was a place in the quarter-finals in 2022, and the odds will favour him getting back to the last eight with Karen Khachanov his opponent in the fourth round.
The Italian has won the last two of his three meetings with the Russian 15th seed with the only loss coming at the 2020 U.S. Open when he was still a teenager.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney; Editing by Sonali Paul)
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