Playing for the first time since winning the Australian Open, Yannik Sinner opened his campaign at the ATP 500 tournament in Rotterdam with a comfortable straight sets win over home favourite Botic van de Zandschulp.
It’s a little bit different [playing as a Grand Slam champion] and you have to be prepared for your opponents to know you better and know your weaknesses more, so you have to be prepared to work hard and be ready Yannik Sinner
The Australian Open champion took out the big serving Dutchman 6-3 6-3 for his 23rd victory in 25 matches.
Van de Zandschulp showed great purpose at the start of the match. He hammered down three aces in his opening game only for Sinner to respond by breaking his serve twice to pocket the first set.
In the second, the Italian, after saving three break points in the opening game, broke his opponent in the following game to cruise through and claim his place in round two.
“I’ve been working a lot in Monaco but I wanted to come here and feel the court. I’m happy to get my first win here over a really great player,” Sinner said afterwards.
“It’s a little bit different [playing as a Grand Slam champion] and you have to be prepared for your opponents to know you better and know your weaknesses more, so you have to be prepared to work hard and be ready.”
Sinner, currently ranked world No.4, could rise to third in the rankings, above Daniil Medvedev, should he go on to claim his 12th career title.
Sinner extends his unbeaten streak this year to 11 matches and will face a veteran of the game on his own 11-game winning run – Frenchman Gael Monfils – in the second round.
Elsewhere, Denmark’s Holger Rune squeezed past Russia’s Roman Safiullin 6-4 2-6 6-1.
The 20-yer-old Dane hit 31 winners and nine aces for his victory, but dropped off significantly in the second set, before recovering his focus in the decider.
“I was for sure in trouble [when I was four break points down],” Rune admitted when questioned about his second set slump.
“I wasn’t really playing great at that moment of the match, so I just told myself, ‘Okay, let’s dig in, just keep digging deep. The longer the match goes, the more time I have to find my level’.
“That happened. I got that game, got some momentum after that one and then started playing really well from 2-1 in the third set.”
Rune will play the Kazakhstani Alexander Shevchenko in the next round.
Meanwhile Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov, the sixth seed, beat Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego 7-6(4) 6-3, while Canda’s Milos Raonic outhit the eighth seed from Kazakhstan, Alexander Bublik 6-4 6-4.
Finally, Australia’s Alex de Minaur, the fifth seed, overwhelmed the Belgian veteran David Goffin 6-3 6-1.
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