Jannik Sinner is up and running at the Italian Open, where he can be considered the strong favorite to lift the trophy.
Sinner defeated Sebastian Ofner 6-3, 6-4 in his opening match of the tournament, where he is the top seed.
The Italian has received huge support from the fans thus far in Rome, where Sinner is chasing a fifth ATP title of the 2026 season.
He has been the standout player of late, recently capturing his fifth successive ATP Masters 1000 title at the Madrid Open.
Yet another title at that level now looks likely at the Italian Open, where he has admittedly received a huge slice of luck.
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Jannik Sinner receives huge slice of Italian Open luck
Sinner was handed a tricky potential draw in his home tournament, but the difficulty of his pathway to the title has already been significantly reduced.
Jakub Mensik was among his potential third round opponents, but the rising Czech star lost his opener to Alexei Popyrin.
Sinner was then projected to meet Arthur Fils, another exciting talent, in round four, but the Frenchman retired hurt early in his first match against Andrea Pellegrino.
Remarkably, his potential quarterfinal opponent Ben Shelton has also bowed out of the event, losing his opener with Nikoloz Basilashvili.
Continuing the highly unlikely trend, a possible semifinal clash with Felix Auger-Aliassime has been ruled out after the Canadian fell to Mariano Navone.
And completing a stunning turn of events in Rome, Sinner’s possible final opponent Novak Djokovic suffered a shock loss to Dino Prizmic.
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Italian tennis legend shares verdict on Jannik Sinner’s Rome draw
Of course, such fortune simply adds to the huge boost Sinner received when his fierce rival Carlos Alcaraz withdrew before the tournament started.
Importantly, however, the Italian will not only care very little about the fortunes of his rivals, but he will be confident that he has the ability to get the job done on his own.
Sharing his verdict on the draw, his compatriot Paolo Bertolucci, who won six ATP titles during his career, wrote on X: “Mensik and Fils, who should have complicated Jannik Sinner’s path to the final, have been eliminated.
“Judging the draw has proven once again to be pointless.”
Sinner now has a stunning 31-2 record for the 2026 season, although he certainly won’t be taking his next opponent lightly.
He faces Popyrin in round three of the Italian Open, with the Australian ace having knocked out Mensik and home favorite Matteo Berrettini.
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