Jannik Sinner started his 2024 China Open title defense with a complicated match against Nicolas Jarry, as he had to stage a comeback to win.
Sinner had a tremendous time in Asia last year, winning the China Open and playing some solid tennis in Shanghai after that. He returned to Beijing this year for the China Open to try to win the trophy once more.
This is the first time fans got a chance to see him back on the court since his US Open triumph, and it was a bit disjointed performance from the Italian player at times.
Sinner hasn't stood on a court in a couple of weeks, and early on, Jarry was able to use that to his advantage. The Chilean had a really good time in Beijing last year, so clearly, something works for him in in the Chinese capital.
He's got a massive serve and a good forehand but can be too streaky, so a lot depends on his level on the given day. Not much went wrong for Sinner regarding his tennis because he played well in the opening match of his title defense at the ATP 500 event.
He wasn't too aggressive though, allowing Jarry to take over control of most rallies. The Chilean was very aggressive and hit 11 winners in that opening set, 7 more than Sinner, which is why he won the opening set 6-4.
A slower start by the Italian allowed Jarry to break early, and he was able to keep that break thanks to superbly aggressive play, which yielded 13 unforced errors as well, but as Sinner didn't create any break point chance, he couldn't break back.
However, the momentum flipped at the start of the second set. Sinner broke first in the second set, making it 3-0, and it happened because he improved the way he battled Jarry from the baseline.
His shots were more powerful, so Jarry couldn't overwhelm him from the baseline as he did in the opening set. The Chilean also didn't serve as well as he did in the opening set, which helped the World No. 1 player turn the match around.
The Italian had no issues winning that second set 6-3, despite not really overstretching his hitting. He was mostly just pushing Jarry into errors as the Chilean finished with 21 in that second set.
That was too much against an elite player like Sinner because it equated to more than two per game. Sinner kept applying heavy pressure on Jarry and immediately broke in the final set, taking a 2-0 lead without too many problems.
Jarry completely lost his serve after the opening set, and he was a sitting duck after that. Without any pressure from his serve, Sinner just outplayed him in every rally.
The Italian added another break to his tally and cruised from there, with the final score being 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. It was an exciting matchup for fans in Beijing, but Sinner once again proved that he's playing superb tennis right now and doesn't look like he will stop anytime soon.