Sinner on song in Washington debut

Italian Jannik Sinner defeated Emil Ruusuvuori 6-2, 6-4 in his tournament debut in Washington on Wednesday, the 19-year-old brushing aside a four match losing streak to find form one the hard Citi Open courts.

Sinner hit three aces in a solid performance en route to victory in 78 minutes.

“It was not easy. We’ve had some great battles already, this time was the third [time I faced him],” Sinner said.

“He’s a very, very good player and a young guy. I’m happy about my performance today.
 
“I was trying to play my game. I think we both have similar styles, we both play quite flat. I was trying to change direction [of the ball] earlier than him, and that worked well for me today.” 

Sinner will face Sebastian Korda next, after the 12th-seeded American defeated Vasek Pospisil 7-5, 6-4. 

Elsewhere, American Steve Johnson rallied from a set down to beat third seed Alex de Minaur 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-2 and fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov also suffered a loss, going down to Belorusian Ilya Ivashka 6-2, 7-6(4).