Jannik Sinner admits what’s really ‘surprised’ him since he returned to tennis after his demolition of Casper Ruud in Rome

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Jannik Sinner absolutely dominated Casper Ruud tonight as he swanned into the semi-finals of the Italian Open.

Before the match, this clash was billed as an even contest that, whilst slightly favouring the four-time Grand Slam champion, could have gone either way.

Jannik Sinner made sure to ridicule that notion inside the first two games. 

Jannik Sinner reacts after Casper Ruud demolition

Interviewing the world number one following his 6-0, 6-1 triumph over Ruud, Tim Henman was effusive in his praise for Sinner.

However, he was curious to know if even the 22-year-old had been left surprised by the form he has exhibited since stepping back onto the court for competitive action.

The Italian replied: ‘Yeah surprised because all matches are completely different. You can practise as much as you want but the mental side of the match is different, the pressure is different. I’m happy [with] how we handled it.

‘I’m a very present person so when things work well I’m happy; when things don’t work well I try to work on them. After the match against Jesper [De Jong] we stayed at the court trying to have a better feeling on the court with the balls. Happy with how we are working and at some point it was going to pay off.

‘I know that I work very hard in the last period to be at this level but I’m also quite surprised to be in this position.’

Laura Robson revealed she spoke to Sinner’s camp, and made an interesting claim during that same broadcast on Sky Sports Tennis.

Jannik Sinner sends out a warning to the rest of the ATP

If there were any doubts over Sinner’s quality upon his return to tennis, tonight’s performance will certainly have assuaged them.

He was rampant, relentless off both wings and drove Ruud into submission. By the end, it was clear that the Norwegian wanted proceedings to be over.

Even after just two games such an attitude became clear, as the nerves of losing seven straight points to start off the match unsurprisingly left the 26-year-old shaken.

If Sinner is capable of doing that to arguably the most in-form clay-courter on the ATP at the moment, the rest of the tour will be wondering what he might do to them next.