Stat of the Day: Sinner's winning Top 20 debut
In his first match as a Top 20 player, the Italian teenager cruised to victory in his opening match in Barcelona.
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Nineteen-year-old Jannik Sinner made a winning debut as a Top 20 player on Tuesday night, beating Egor Gerasimov, 6-3, 6-2, in the second round of the ATP 500 event in Barcelona.
Sinner rose from No. 22 to No. 19 on Monday after a second-round showing in Monte Carlo, becoming the first Italian teenager to reach the Top 20 in the history of the ATP rankings.
“It’s a good number, but for me at the moment it’s not that important. I’m just trying to improve every day as a player, and obviously the ranking is what it is,” Sinner said after his 68-minute victory.
“Obviously I’m happy to be a Top 20 player, but the road is long, so there’s a lot of work to do.”
Awaiting the No. 19-year-old Sinner in the third round will be No. 11-ranked Roberto Bautista Agut. The two have played twice before, both of those meetings coming in the last two months, with Sinner winning in the third round of Dubai, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, and in the semifinals of Miami, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.