Jannik Sinner Starts 2025 Season With Straightforward Win In Melbourne
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Jannik Sinner started his 2025 season with a relatively straightforward win at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.
The AO Opening Week is underway and that means plenty of qualifying matches at the Australian Open, as well as many exciting exhibition matches for tennis fans.
During the AO Opening Week, all of the biggest favorites will play in an exhibition match, as Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner chose not to play any warm-up events but instead signed up for charity exhibitions in Melbourne.
Reigning World No. 1 player on the ATP Tour and the top seed for the upcoming Australian Open, Sinner opened the series of exhibition charity matches at the Rod Laver Arena with a meeting against home player Alexei Popyrin.
Popyrin started his season at the ATP 250 event in Brisbane, but he lost 3-6, 2-6 to Matteo Arnaldi, so he certainly appreciated playing against the best player in the world ahead of the start of the first major of the season.
It didn't take long before the Australian player faced some problems also in this match, as already in the second game, he fell behind 15-40 and then faced an advantage. Still, Popyrin managed to save all three break points, leading 2-1 after three games played.
Sinner, on the other hand, avoided any trouble on his serve, and after five games played, the scoreboard showed 3-2 for Popyrin, and it was time for the first mid-match interview, with the Italian player talking about the crowd at the Rod Laver Arena.
"Very, very nice. We're trying to get back the connection with the crowd, and also understanding the pace of the court. At the end of the day, it's still practice, and we try out some things that hopefully work in one week's time. Today, we are friends, we are not opponents."
Although Sinner said that Popyrin was his friend and not his opponent on the court during this match, he certainly didn't back his words up in the following moments. In his next return game, the Italian player once again found his way to two break points, but Popyrin saved both again.
But the Australian player ran out of inspired moments, as from 4-3 up, he lost 12 of the following 14 points. Sinner once again showed why he's currently the best player in the world, winning the first set of the match 6-4.
In the second set, however, Popyrin was the first player to break, and leading 5-2, it seemed that he could delight the home crowd and win a set against Sinner. But his own forehand let him down on a break point when he was serving to win the set, so Sinner was able to break back.
The World No. 1 player then took the set into a tie-break, which he won 7-2 after a beautiful forehand drop shot. Sinner beat Popyrin 6-4, 7-6(2) to record his first (unofficial) win of the 2025 season.
Both will return to the Rod Laver Arena one more time before the start of the Australian Open. Sinner will play against Stefanos Tsitsipas on January 10th, while Popyrin will take on Carlos Alcaraz on the same day.
