Sizzling Sinner punishes Ruud to reach a record

Jannik Sinner unleashed a near-perfect performance on Casper Ruud, humbling the Madrid title winner 6-0, 6-1 to set a record on Thursday at the Rome Masters.

The one-way rout by the world No. 1 means that for the fist time in Foro Italico history, there will be two Italian men in the semi-finals

Sinner joined compatriot Lorenzo Mustetti in the final four after the ATP No. 9 put out Alexander Zverev on Wednesday in their quarter-final.

The destruction of Ruud in 63 minutes proved to be a masterclass from Sinner, playing only his third match since coming back from a three-month ban for inadvertent doping.

The Italian top seed crushed his Norwegian opponent, winning 12 of the first 13 points and taking a 4-0 lead after a quarter of an hour.

Sinner completed the WTA-style scoreline with a break of serve on match point to complete the triumph.

He has now won 24 straight sets against top 10 opponents and is riding a win streak of 25 matches.”I was feeling great on the court today, we all saw that,” Sinner said. “My goal was to understand my level.

“It has been rising day by day. “He added: “I’m happy about that, the result doesn’t matter. This is a positive sign for me.

“But everything can change in one day, it’s not about just one performance. Everything was working very well for me today: serve, return and I was moving well.”

Sinner struck 22 winners and just 10 unforced errors while Ruud – still smiling at the end as he accepted his thrashing – had seven winners and 17 unforced.

“I was seeing the ball very well,” Sinner said as he prepares to face American Tommy Paul for a spot in the home final.

“Playing at night was better for me, the ball was bouncing low – everything was in my favour today”

The only Italian man to win the Rome title was Adriano Panatta in 1976

Main photo:-Jannik Sinner serving to victory in Rome – by ATP/Tour.com