Jannik Sinner started life as a Grand Slam champion with an emphatic win over Botic van de Zandschulp at the Rotterdam Open, leaving his opponent to joke that he was “disappointed” that the Italian “didn’t take a day off”.
Just over two weeks after completing a sensational run at the Australian Open that saw him defeat world No 1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic in the semi-final before coming from two sets to love down to beat Daniil Medvedev in the final, Sinner continued his hot streak.
The Italian remains unbeaten in 2024 as he took his unbeaten run to 11 with eight of those wins coming this year and three coming at the Davis Cup Finals last year.
The first-round victory in Rotterdam was fairly routine as he broke twice in the first set and once in the second for a 6-3, 6-3 victory.
Van de Zandschulp – who Sinner also defeated en route to winning the Australian Open in January – admitted afterwards he was hoping the world No 3 would be slightly off his game following his Grand Slam heroics, but it wasn’t to be.
“I was hoping that Sinner might need time to get back into his game after his win in Melbourne, but I was disappointed to see that it wasn’t the case,” the Dutchman joked. “He certainly didn’t take a day off, and when he shows up like this, it’s really hard to pull anything off.”
ATP Rankings Boost
For Sinner the win kicked off his campaign to reach a career-high No 3 in the ATP Rankings as he now finds himself just 445 points Daniil Medvedev, who has opted not to defend his title in Rotterdam.
If the Italian goes all the way at the ATP 500 event then he will edge ahead of Medvedev by the closest of margins as he will move to 8,270 points with the Russian staying on 8,265 points.
But Sinner knows he will have a target on his back in the coming days, weeks and months.
“I’ve been working a lot in Monaco but I wanted to come here and feel the court,” he said. “I’m happy to get my first win here over a really great player.
“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.”
What’s To Come For Sinner
Up next is Sinner is world No 70 Gael Monfils, who booked his place in the second round with a 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5) win over Denis Shapovalov.
Frenchman Monfils is a two-time champion in Rotterdam and the Italian knows he will have his work cut out for him.
“Gael is a very dangerous opponent. It doesn’t matter where you play him. He’ll be a fan favourite for sure, but it’s part of the game and you have to accept it,” Sinner said.
“It’s always a really tough match when we play,” he added. “I saw his first-round match and he played really well.”
There are also a lot of other dangerous opponents left in the draw with second seed Andrey Rublev advancing with a three-set win over Felix Auger-Aliassime while third seed Holger Rune and fourth seed Hubert Hurkacz also still alive in the tournament.