Sinner moves into quarters

Jannik Sinner came through the first true test of his comeback from a doping ban with Tuesday's straight-sets win over Francisco Cerundolo which took the world No.1 into the Italian Open quarter-finals.

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Italian Sinner bested 17th seed Cerundolo 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 in a match which was delayed by a couple of hours due to a torrential downpour to set up a last-eight clash with either Casper Ruud or Jaume Munar.

Cerundolo knocked out Sinner in the last 16 the last time he played here in 2023, but that was before the 23-year-old had become the tournament-winning machine he is today.

Sinner is finding his feet in Rome, his first tournament since the end of a three-month suspension accepted in February from the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) following two positive tests for traces of clostebol in March last year.

His true target is the French Open which follows his home event and he showed some signs of rediscovering the form which has won him three Grand Slams and last year’s ATP Finals.

“I've gone through a lot mentally, and not only today, so it’s really important that I rest psychologically tomorrow, not think about tennis,” said Sinner.

“Let's see how well I can manage all this, but I’m pleased.”