The World No.81 and 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals champion battled past his Greek opponent, prevailing with a 6-1 6-7(9) 6-2 victory. Although Sinner held a 6-1 5-2 lead and served for the match, Tsitsipas fought back to level things after a second set tiebreak. However, Sinner regained his focus to dominate the final set, emerging victorious after two hours and 13 minutes.

“He is obviously a very experienced player,” said Sinner after the match. “I played against him last year here in Rome. I just wanted to play my game and move better. In the beginning, I was feeling great and I knew it was his first match on clay. When I served for the match, I hit one double fault and the tie-break could have gone either way. I tried to start strongly in the third set.”

"When you're young, in one year you can do a lot of things," added the 19-year old. "I think I have improved everything. Especially the serve. I served a little bit better today, changing rotation and everything... Playing against him is never easy. Last year was my first test against a Top 10 player. It was a little test... Today, I knew that I had the level to compete better against him. Obviously, it was a great match, and I'm very happy."

Sinner improves to 6-7 for the season, and will face Grigor Dimitrov for a spot in the quarterfinals.

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