By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday April 11, 2024
Jannik Sinner dispatched Jan-Lennard Struff to reach the quarterfinals at Monte-Carlo.
Photo Source: Getty
Different surface, same domination.
Jannik Sinner continues to look like the player to beat after a change of scenery – and shoes – in Monte-Carlo.
The only ATP player with three titles thus far in 2024 is ramping up his efforts for a fourth trophy and he galloped in that direction on Thursday as he eased past Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 6-2 to stretch his winning streak to eight and improve to 24-1 overall in 2025.
Sinner, ranked and seeded second in Monte-Carlo, will face seventh-seeded Holger Rune for a spot in the semifinals on Friday.
“I think I can be very proud,” Sinner said. “It’s a completely different matchup than the first match (against Korda), different feelings on the court – I’m just very happy to be in the next round.”
Today he was ruthless against the 33-year-old as he dropped just 11 points on serve and engineered four service breaks to sail past Struff in 76 minutes.
22-year-old Sinner won 85 percent of his first serve points to reach his 11th career Masters 1000 quarterfinal, and third in Monte-Carlo.
After a trade of breaks left the pair at 2-all in the opening set, Sinner took control. He dropped just one more point on serve for the remainder of the set and broke Stuff critically for 5-4.
In the second set Sinner broke for 2-1 and again for 5-2. He converted his first match point a game later to improve to 2-0 lifetime against 25th-ranked Struff.
The Italian was asked about the “Sinner mania” that has been following him around this year, after he has won his first major title and reached a career-high ranking of No.2 in the world – the highest of any Italian player in history.
The Italian support in Monte-Carlo, just a short drive from the Italian border, is palpable to say the least.
“I do enjoy it,” Sinner said. “It’s great for me, and also Italian tennis is growing. I think that’s the most important part, trying to make tennis in Italy bigger. We Italian players do a great job of it – It’s just great to be part of this event and it’s great to be part of everything that’s going on. I just try to make the best out of it.”