After the drama of his third-round win against Eliot Spizzirri, Monday’s straight-sets passage into another Australian Open quarterfinal was just what Jannik Sinner needed.
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The two-time defending AO champion suffered cramp in Saturday’s conditions during that four-set victory over the American, but it was business as usual on Day 9 as he raised his game when it mattered to beat fellow Italian Luciano Darderi 6-1 6-3 7-6(2).
The AO 2024 and 2025 champion has now won 18 Australian Open matches in a row, and takes his overall win streak to 19 contests since his most recent defeat in Shanghai last October.
After saving two break points in the opening game, Sinner was razor-sharp during the first two sets and played a quite brilliant tiebreak to finish a much more competitive period when Darderi threw the kitchen sink at him.
The result puts the four-time major champion into his fourth successive Melbourne quarterfinal, where he’ll play American Ben Shelton or Norway’s Casper Ruud on Wednesday.
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“In the third set I felt like I had a couple of break chances, couldn’t use them, and then I got very, very tight so I’m very happy that I closed it in three sets,” admitted Sinner, who is bidding to become the fourth player in history to win three consecutive Australian Open men’s singles titles.
“I tried to raise my level. I started off very well the match, and also [happy] with how I closed with some really important pressure points.”
Sinner’s improved serve motion stood out during just over two hours at Margaret Court Arena, with the Italian smacking 19 aces and finding the court with over 70 per cent of his first deliveries.
“I feel for sure a little bit more confident [on the serve],” he said.
“There’s still room to improve which is normal, but I’m very happy with how I’ve come back in the new season because at end of last season I served really well. For sure now it's a bit more stable.”
The world No.25 Darderi, who won three ATP titles last season and was appearing in the last 16 at a major for the first time, plays his best tennis on a slower clay court and during the opening two sets Sinner never allowed him to settle during the baseline rallies, robbing the 23-year-old of any time on the ball.
The only moment of concern for Sinner came in the first game when he needed two big serves to recover from 15-40. Once that minor dip was out of the way, he quickly found top gear.
Sinner discovered his groove on return, and in the next game ripped a big forehand winner and a perfect backhand up the line to set the tone to break for 2-0, wrapping up a one-sided set 6-1 after 27 minutes.
Darderi’s inability to make an inroads became too much for him as early as the third game of the second set, bouncing his racquet when he missed a backhand long to go break point down, and then picking up a code violation for smacking a ball out of the stadium when he lost serve again.
Once more, the lower-ranked player was on the back foot early and Sinner used his momentum to break for a fourth time to ease into a two-set advantage.
By this stage there was only one option left for Darderi – go big or go home – and that’s exactly what he did.
Taking risks and upping his groundstroke speed and aggression from the back, he stayed with Sinner for much longer in the third set and even generated four break points at 4-4.
Sinner survived, then missed two match points on the Darderi serve in the next game before a tiebreak was needed to separate the two.
With Darderi playing his best tennis of the match, he jumped into a 2-0 lead in the shootout only for Sinner to demonstrate his champion’s credentials by immediately finding another gear.
Without any visible panic or stress, the 24-year-old rattled off seven successive points to move into a ninth consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal.