Jannik Sinner gave another reminder of his development as a grass-court talent Tuesday at the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle, where the 21-year-old began his maiden campaign at the ATP 500 with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 triumph against Richard Gasquet.
Playing in just his 12th tour-level match on grass, Sinner overcame a tough challenge from Gasquet with consistent, clean baseline hitting, particularly in the first and third sets. Despite a strong fightback from Gasquet, who notched his 600th career win by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in Stuttgart last week, the Italian finished with 41 winners to Gasquet’s 25 in his 31st tour-level win of the season.
With his two-hour, 29-minute victory, Sinner improved to 12-0 in opening-round matches for 2023. He now leads Gasquet 2-0 in the pair’s ATP Head2Head series after defeating the Frenchman in straight sets in Indian Wells in March.
The 21-year-old Sinner will take on countryman Lorenzo Sonego next after the World No. 39 also came through in three sets against Aslan Karatsev. Sonego triumphed 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in what was also his main-draw debut in Halle.
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