Jannik Sinner and Gael Monfils move on in Sofia

A couple of interesting things happened today in Sofia at the Sofia Open with Jannik Sinner successfully starting his title defence. The Italian is looking for his 4th career title overall one year after he won his maiden won in Sofia last year. He faced a tricky opponent in Gerasimov and he was able to win that match in two sets.

He started off extremely well playing a very aggressive style that was not matched by Gerasimov. The Belarussian player usually prefers to dictate tempo but that was nearly impossible against Sinner who asserted himself quickly. Gerasimov on the back foot is not the same player and Sinner raced to a 6-2 first set win.

In the 2nd set, his level dipped a bit with Gerasimov adjusting much better to his style which is why we had a much closer match. Both players had early break points but neither found the breakthrough. At 4-4, Sinner lost his serve but avoided the 3rd set by breaking back immediately. He then had match points at 6-5 but Gerasimov held.

In the tiebreak Sinner proved better winning it with 7-3 and closing out the match. Gael Monfils will join him in the next round with the Frenchman advancing as Ivashka withdrew from the match before it started.