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World No. 1 Jannik Sinner defeated the Netherlands' Jesper De Jong, losing just six games in their third-round encounter at the 2025 Italian Open on Monday (May 12). Playing his first tournament since accepting a three-month doping suspension from WADA in February, there was much attention on the Italian when he got smacked by a ball while returning serve against the Dutchman.
Sinner began his Round-of-32 outing in Rome by breaking his 93rd-ranked opponent twice in the first five games to lead 4-1. De Jong eventually settled into the first set, breaking the top seed back twice to level the score at 4-4. Sensing that he would have to play at a high level, the Italian broke serve again in the following game before closing out the set 6-4.
There were subsequently various contentious moments during the second set, including Jesper De Jong suffering a nasty fall while attempting to volley a passing shot hit by Jannik Sinner. At one point, the 23-year-old was ready to return his older opponent's serve. The Dutchman hit a first fault, and since the ball wasn't in play, the World No. 1 let it go past him. Unfortunately, the ball rebounded off the wall near his end of the court at Stadio Centrale and hit him square in the face.
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The incident wasn't that serious though, as Sinner immediately got ready for the 24-year-old's second serve. It was one-way traffic from that point onwards as the home hope completed a commanding 6-4, 6-2 victory to move into the fourth round of the Italian Open.
Jannik Sinner to face Francisco Cerundolo for QF spot in Rome
Jannik Sinner will next take on the in-form 17th-seeded Francisco Cerundolo for a place in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Italian Open. The two players are tied 2-2 in their head-to-head meetings on the ATP Tour. Interestingly though, the Argentine won their last encounter at the Italian's home tournament in Rome two years ago, downing him 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-2 in the Round of 16.
For what it's worth, the World No. 1 will have to be wary of Cerundolo during their fourth-round encounter at Foro Italico on Wednesday (May 14). The World No. 18 has won seven of his last nine matches on clay, reaching the semifinals at the Madrid Open and the BMW Open. Notably, he upset Alexander Zverev in the third round at Caja Magica before losing to eventual champion Casper Ruud in the semifinals of the 1000-level event.
