Jannik Sinner says what he was struggling with during his first round win at the China Open

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Jannik Sinner survived a real scare in his opening match at the China Open against Nicolas Jarry.

The newly crowned US Open champion has been quietly enjoying a well-earned break after his triumphs in New York.

Having perhaps sensibly skipped the Laver Cup, Jannik Sinner started his title defence in Beijing on Thursday against Chile’s Nicolas Jarry.

The Italian significantly picked up the pace in the Chinese capital 12 months ago, momentum that eventually carried him to a first Grand Slam title in Melbourne.

A supreme US Open saw Sinner consistently raise his level over the entire fortnight, maintaining his composure while his immediate rivals in Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic suffered early exits.

Today in his first match since glory at Flushing Meadows, the Italian was forced to recover from a set down to eventually progress 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Jannik Sinner says which shot he struggled to deal with in his China Open win

Despite moving to 12 wins in a row, Sinner certainly din’t have things all his own way, with the Italian overpowered by Jarry’s powerful shot-making.

Formerly ranked 16th in the ATP rankings, Jarry hit five aces and faced no break-points during the opening set.

Sinner was quick to admit after the match that he couldn’t match Jarry’s level in the first set: “He played good tennis. In the first set I was struggling to return his serve and he broke me,” Sinner confessed to the ATP after the win.

“I just tried to stay there mentally. The first round at any tournament is never easy and playing against him is very tough. But I am happy about the performance and how I ended the match.”

Despite Jarry going on to hit seven more aces over the next two sets, Sinner didn’t panic, simply raising his intensity and level to see out the match.

Who is Jannik Sinner’s next opponent at the China Open?

The top seed improved his record to 56 wins to just five defeats in 2024 and will have his sights set on finishing the year as the world number one for the first time.

Sinner joined the current scheduling debate, disagreeing with Alcaraz’s claim the ATP were trying to ‘kill’ players.

Managing his minutes, Sinner’s next opponent and second match since the US Open final will either be against Swiss veteran Stanislas Wawrinka, or Russia’s Roman Safiullin, with the pair set to play tomorrow.

The Italian has never lost to Safiullin, most recently defeating him in four sets in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in 2023.

Against Wawrinka, the world number one lost his opening two clashes against the veteran in 2019, however has since won four on the bounce to lead their head-to-head.