Tennis

Jannik Sinner is through to the quarterfinals of the Italian Open.

In short:

Jannik Sinner's Italian Open win over Andrea Pellegrino is his 31st consecutive win at an ATP Masters 1000 event, equalling Novak Djokovic's record.

If Sinner wins the Italian Open, he will join Novak Djokovic as the only man to win all nine Masters 1000 titles.

What's next?

Sinner can set a new consecutive Masters match wins record by beating Andrey Rublev in the Italian Open quarterfinals.

World number one Jannik Sinner extended his Masters 1000 winning streak to 31 matches with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Andrea Pellegrino.

The 24-year-old four-time grand slam champion was ruthless early on, racing into a 4-0 lead.

Pellegrino showed greater resistance in the second set, but Sinner broke for 4-3 and closed out the match comfortably.

Alexei Popyrin was outclassed in Rome, beaten 6-2 6-0 by world number one Jannik Sinner.

Sinner struck 13 winners in a contest that lasted one hour and 29 minutes.

I'm very happy about the outcome. At the same time, I'm very happy for him.

From an Italian point of view, it's amazing that there are so many Italians left in the draw.

Earlier this month, Sinner became the first man to win five consecutive Masters 1000 titles.

With only Rome missing from his collection, Sinner is aiming to go one better than last year.

Alcaraz, a seven-time major winner, is nursing a wrist injury and will not compete in the French Open.

ABC Sport Daily is your daily sports conversation.

If Sinner goes on to claim the Rome title, he will join Djokovic as the only men to have won all nine Masters 1000 events.

I think I can be very happy. The conditions were tricky, with some wind at the start.

I'm pleased with how I'm handling these situations. The stages are getting bigger and bigger.

Elsewhere, home hope Luciano Darderi shocked German second seed Alexander Zverev.

Reuters

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