Jannik Sinner cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 win over Croatia’s Marin Cilic as he began his campaign for a second China Open title in Beijing on Thursday.
Sinner, playing his first match since his loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the U.S. Open final which also led to the Spaniard replacing him as the World No. 1, took an hour and 21 minutes to beat 36-year-old Cilic, a two-time finalist in the Chinese capital.
The 24-year-old Italian had won the title in Beijing on debut in 2023 before finishing runner-up at last year’s edition.
Sinner faced only one break point against World No. 97 and former U.S. Open champion Cilic, who was chasing his first win since reaching the round of 16 at Wimbledon.
“I try to put a lot of concentration into the first-round matches, because I know that many things can go wrong,” said Sinner, who has won his past 27 opening-round matches since Cincinnati in 2023.
“After you usually find your rhythm, your pace, the speed of the courts much better. I try to prepare myself in the best possible way. I came here quite early in order to feel the conditions.
“I’m very happy to deliver this kind of performance today. Marin is a very tough player to play against, his peak is quite high. I managed to break him quite early in both sets, which gave me the confidence to keep going.”
Sinner will next face Terence Atmane. It will be his second match against the French qualifier in as many months. Atmane had lost to the Italian after a stunning run to the semifinals in Cincinnati.
Published on Sep 25, 2025