Top-ranked Jannik Sinner cleared a major hurdle in his comeback from a three-month doping ban, defeating clay-court specialist Francisco Cerundolo 7-6 (2), 6-3 on Tuesday to reach the Italian Open quarterfinals.
Cerundolo, ranked No. 18, owns a tour-leading 18 clay-court wins this season and was coming off a semifinal run in Madrid. He also held a psychological edge, having beaten Sinner on the same court and in the same round two years ago.
But Sinner, playing his first tournament since lifting his third Grand Slam trophy at the Australian Open in January, has yet to drop a set in three matches.
“Today I felt that I raised my level,” Sinner said. “It was a very long day … but I need this. I’m happy to be back. I was three months out, so every situation for me, I feel very fortunate to be here, very lucky.”
Sinner extended his winning streak to 24 matches, dating back to October, and said reaching the quarterfinals was “a great result,” adding, “For the first tournament, I’m very, very happy.”
In February, Sinner agreed to a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency that raised some questions, as the three-month suspension conveniently allowed him to miss no Grand Slam events and return in time for his home tournament.
Rome is the last big warmup before the French Open starts May 25.
The start of the match was delayed for several hours because of rain, turning it into a night match. But ticket-holders for the day session at the Foro Italico hung around to see their home player and serenaded him with chants of “Ole, Ole, Ole; Sin-ner, Sin-ner” at all the big moments.
A sign in the crowd read: “We are all Sinners.”
Sinner hung on during long rallies with Cerundolo and eventually found the range on his drop shot when it mattered most – during the tiebreaker.
When Sinner produced a stop-volley winner early in the second set, he gestured with his fingers for the crowd to cheer louder.
He then required a medical timeout for treatment of apparent blisters on his right foot, but broke Cerundolo in the next game to take a 3-1 lead and control the match.
Sinner will next face either freshly crowned Madrid champion Casper Ruud or Jaume Munar.
He is attempting to become the first Italian man to win the Rome title since Adriano Panatta in 1976.
In the other half of the draw, Carlos Alcaraz was made to work for a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 victory over Karen Khachanov that earned him a rematch with Jack Draper – who beat him earlier this year.
Alcaraz improved to 5-0 in his career against the 24th-ranked Khachanov.
“Physically I was struggling a little bit,” Alcaraz said. “Not any pain in any part of the body. I was just tired. I had to run a lot. I was really proud of the way I fought for every ball.”
The third-ranked Alcaraz wore a long black brace that covered the upper portion of his right leg and stretched down to just below his knee.
He withdrew from Madrid because of an upper right leg ailment that also bothered him during the Barcelona Open final. He previously had a left leg injury.
Alcaraz, who won the Monte Carlo Masters in April, improved to 12-1 on clay this season. The four-time Grand Slam champion will next face No. 5 Draper, who rallied past Corentin Moutet 1-6, 6-4, 6-3.
While Alcaraz holds a 3-2 career edge over Draper, the British player won their most recent meeting in the semifinals at Indian Wells, California, in March.
Lorenzo Musetti had set up match point against Daniil Medvedev when their match was interrupted by rain.
The contest was suspended for nearly three hours before the players finally returned, and Musetti closed it out by producing an inside-out forehand winner on the first point of the resumption. He won 7-5, 6-4.
Musetti, a new entrant in the top 10 of the rankings at No. 9, reached the quarterfinals.
In the women’s tournament, Jasmine Paolini rallied past Diana Shnaider 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-2 to become the first Italian woman to reach the semifinals in Rome since her doubles partner, Sara Errani, lost the 2014 final to Serena Williams.
Paolini was trailing 3-0 in the second set when the match was briefly stopped because of rain. Shnaider went on to hold serve and go ahead 4-0 after the suspension, but Paolini won six straight games to take the set.
“It was a good thing that it rained for five minutes. I got some coaching from Sara,” Paolini said of Errani, who was watching from the stands.
The last Italian woman to win the Italian Open was Raffaella Reggi, who took the 1985 title in Taranto.