Sinner safely through to French Open second round after seeing off Eubanks in straight sets

By Sports Desk May 27, 2024

Jannik Sinner made a strong start to his French Open title quest with a dominant straight-sets victory over Christoper Eubanks.

The second seed took just over two hours to wrap up a commanding 6-3 6-3 6-4 win against his American opponent on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

Reigning Australian Open champion Sinner is one of the favourites to go all the way at Roland Garros this year, having also triumphed in Rotterdam and Miami in 2024.

Although, the Italian had not played since withdrawing from the Madrid Open earlier this month with a hip injury.

Nevertheless, he broke Eubanks, who reached last year's Wimbledon quarter-finals, three times on his way to taking the opening set.

Sinner, who will become the first Italian to top the ATP rankings should he reach the final this fortnight, broke early again in the next two sets to set up a second-round meeting with veteran Richard Gasquet.

Data Debrief: Sinner matches 'the big three'

Sinner, 22, became only the fourth player in the last 30 years to win his first eight men's single major matches of the season before turning 23, after Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

The Italian has now won 11 of his 12 matches at Roland Garros against players ranked outside the top 10, with his only such defeat coming against world number 79 Daniel Altmeier in last year's second round.

Related items

  • Medvedev survives early scare to beat Borges at Halle Open Medvedev survives early scare to beat Borges at Halle Open

    Daniil Medvedev secured his spot in the next round of the Halle Open after fending off a valiant Nuno Borges in straight sets.

    The world number five prevailed 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 on Monday to bounce back from his round-of-16 exit to Alex de Minaur at Roland-Garros.

    Medvedev found himself behind early on as Borges won an early break point, but the Russian roared back to win the tiebreak 7-4.

    Borges continued to match his opponent in the second set, but the former world number one showcased his endurance and class, finishing the contest in style to secure his place in the round of 16. 

    Medvedev will now face Zhizhen Zhang after his win over Sebastian Ofner earlier in the day. 

    Data Debrief: Med goes two for two

    This duo first met at this year's Australian Open, with Medvedev winning on that occasion too.

    It was a tight encounter this time around, as Medvedev was forced to save five break points, while also striking nine aces, but he made it two straight wins against Borges.

  • Rune struggles continue as he falls to Thompson at Queen's Rune struggles continue as he falls to Thompson at Queen's

    A difficult spell for Holger Rune continued as the Dane was beaten by Jordan Thompson in the first round of the Queen's Club Championships on Monday.

    Rune has fallen from a high of four down to number 15 in the ATP rankings and was unable to hold on to a lead in his match with Thompson in London.

    Australian Thompson fought back to prevail 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 in an entertaining encounter against the seventh seed.

    Rune made the semi-finals at Queen's and the quarter-finals of Wimbledon last year, but is now seriously lacking momentum as the third grand slam of 2024 fast approaches.

    Elsewhere at the ATP 500 event, third seed Grigor Dimitrov is safely through after cruising past Adrian Mannarino 6-1 6-2 in only 63 minutes.

    Dimitrov will face either Sebastian Korda or Karen Khachanov in the last 16. 

    Top seed and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz starts his campaign against Argentine Francisco Cerundolo on Tuesday. 

    That is also when Thompson’s compatriot and last year’s runner-up Alex de Minaur begins his tournament with what could be a testing clash against Italian Lorenzo Musetti.

    Data Debrief: Thompson's serve sees off Rune 

    In the first career meeting between the two players, both Rune and Thompson were strong on serve. The three sets only produced two breaks – one from each player – in a battle that topped the two-hour mark.

    Thompson came into the tournament on a five-match losing streak, but has often impressed on grass, with this being his 64th career win on the surface.

    He had eight aces to just one double fault and crucially won 69 per cent (20/29) of his second-serve points, affording Rune just one break-point opportunity across the whole match.

    Thompson added 27 winners and could face home hope Andy Murray next round if the Briton can defeat Alexei Popyrin.

    As for Dimitrov, he recorded 28 winners and only five unforced errors in his impressive win over Mannarino. Having made the quarter-finals at the French Open, the Bulgarian looks poised to enter Wimbledon in good form.

  • Tadic tips 'hungry' Bellingham to win the Ballon d'Or Tadic tips 'hungry' Bellingham to win the Ballon d'Or

    Jude Bellingham "has everything to win the next Ballon d'Or", Serbia skipper Dusan Tadic insisted after his side fell victim to England's star midfielder.

    Bellingham was the hero with his first-half header ensuring Gareth Southgate's side got off to a winning start at Euro 2024, as they edged out the Eagles 1-0 in Gelsenkirchen.

    The Real Madrid midfielder built on the momentum from his memorable debut season with Los Blancos, for whom he scored 23 goals and helped win LaLiga and the Champions League.

    The second player after Michael Owen to score at the World Cup and European Championship before turning 21, he is also the first to do so for the Three Lions while playing his club football outside of England.

    And Tadic, who appeared as a second-half substitute in Serbia's first match at the European Championship as a unified nation, paid tribute to the 20-year-old.

    When asked whether he thought Bellingham was the difference in the Group C contest, the Eagles skipper told reporters: "Yes, definitely. I think he is a great player and a great personality. I think he has everything to win the next Ballon d'Or.

    "I think everything that he did was great today, he showed personality, he took England to the next level. He was always asking for the ball and I think he had a great game.

    "What I think is most important for such a young player is that he always takes responsibility. That is amazing to see, and you can see he is very hungry."

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.