Jannik Sinner brushed off any challenge from Argentine Sebastian Baez on Friday as the fourth seed advanced 6-0, 6-1, 6-3 into the fourth round of the Australian Open.
The Italian made quick work of the South American whom he defeated in their only previous match three months ago in Shanghai, advancing in just under two hours with 34 winners including six aces.
“Today’s match was really good, I played good tennis,” the winner said.
“I love the conditions today: no wind and no sun.
“For me it was a little bit easier to get used to it.
“I felt the ball well and I made the right decisions. I used every chance.
“It’s good to have the match feeling back again. I’m very excited to
step on the court every time.”
The 22-year-old has reached the second week in Melbourne for the third year in succession, winning the opening seven games to stamp his authority on proceedings.
His victory set up a fourth-round showdown with Karen Khachanov, who beat Czech Tomas Machac 6-4, 76 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (5).
“We played extremely tough matches when he was coming up, extremely long matches,” Khachanov said after losing two of his last three against Sinner.
“I will try to recover, prepare and give him a fight”.
Sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who lost the final here a year ago to Novak Djokovic, defeated Frenchman Luca van Assche 6-3, 6-0, 6-4
After winning his first two matches in five sets, the 19-year-old challenger had little left against Tsitsipas, taking the loss in two hours.
The Greek said he wanted to avoid playing catch-up as he had to do in his two previous wins this week.
“I had a slow start in both other matches, I wanted to do something different,” he said. “I wanted to show the passion and determination from the start.
“I’m happy things worked out. I pushed myself and exceeded my own expectations. Things went smoothly after (winning) the first set.”
Tsitsipas will test himself next against American Taylor Fritz, a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 winner over Hungarian Fabian Marozsan, with the Greek leading the series 3-1.
Fritz got his lone victory on the Monte Carlo clay last April.
