After Jannik Sinner eked past Nicolas Jarry in the first round of the China Open, the Italian’s record has caught the attention of Boris Becker and recently-sacked Brad Gilbert.
A slightly sluggish Jannik Sinner opened his title defense in Beijing with a shaky win over world number 28 Nicolas Jarry.
Having lost their only previous encounter in 2019, the world number one looked set to face another shock as he lost the opening set 6-4.
The US Open champion however raised his level and intensity to march to victory, losing just four games to take the last two sets 6-3, 6-1.
Boris Becker and Brad Gilbert react in shock at recent Jannik Sinner statistic
With his latest win extending his current unbeaten streak to 12, Sinner has also added to another astonishing record.
If you were ever in doubt over Sinner’s pedigree, his win over Jarry moved him to 48 wins without a single defeat against players ranked outside the top 20 since the 2023 US Open.
With the news seeping through to Boris Becker, the German posted on X: “That’s quite a statistic….”
Brad Gilbert – who was recently sacked by Coco Gauff – also reacted in disbelief saying, ‘Amazing stat’.
With Sinner set to play either Roman Safiullin or Stanislas Wawrinka in the next round, he could extend this run to 49, with both players currently outside the top 20.
Jannik Sinner is having a truly historic year on the ATP Tour
The Italian has been immense over the last 12 months, with 77 wins since his defeat at the US Open in the fourth round.
He is 56-5 this year with the world number one having picked up a whopping six titles this year. Remarkably, he is likely set to pick up the pace further over the next few months.
This time last year, Sinner stormed to victory in Beijing beating both Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev in the process.
The 23-year-old later went on to steal the show for Italy at the Davis Cup, saving consecutive three match points to beat Novak Djokovic.
With the Italian eager to retain his Australian Open title in January, Sinner is going to show no signs of slowing down over the next few months.
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