Jannik Sinner defends his title at the ATP 500 in Beijing

Good start. Jannik Sinner defeated Nicolas Jarry on his debut in the ATP 500 in Beijing, which marked the start of his rise to number one in the ATP rankings last year. He lost the first set, as he did in the first round of the US Open against McDonald. In the last two tournaments played and won (Cincinnati and US Open), Sinner has only lost 4 sets out of a total of 33. Let’s see how his path continues in China. Who will Sinner play against? The defending champion of the ATP 500 in Beijing, Jannik Sinner, will face the winner between Roman Safiullin (who replaced Struff) and Stan Wawrinka. The Russian is number 69 in the world, the Swiss is ranked 234th. Sinner has defeated Safiullin twice, this year would be the first time. The record against Wawrinka is 2 Swiss wins followed by 4 Italian wins. When does Sinner play The exact date of Sinner’s second match is not yet known. Since Safiullin and Wawrinka play on Friday, the match will take place on the weekend. More likely is a morning engagement on Sunday than Saturday. Remember that Beijing is eight hours ahead, so 8 hours must be added to Italian time to understand the local time at which the Italian athletes will play. The Sinner tableau The possible clash with Grigor Dimitrov, who has withdrawn and has been replaced by Arthur Rinderknech, is eliminated. In the further case of victory and reaching the quarterfinals, Sinner could face the winner between Jiri Lehecka (who defeated Pedro Martinez) and one of the two Roberto Bautista Agut and Rinderknech (tomorrow). In the semifinals he could face the fourth seed (who will face Pablo Carreno Busta and possibly one of the two Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Zhizhen Zhang, whom he may meet first in the quarterfinals against Lorenzo Musetti (against Zizou Bergs, then Juncheng Shang /Yunchaokete Bu). On the other side of the table is the special observer Carlos Alcaraz, given the withdrawal of Alexander Zverev and the absence of Novak Djokovic, from where his mental and sporting ascent to number one in the ATP ranking began on October 4, 2023, in the final he defeated for the first time Daniil Medvedev, who until then had had the same result. A complete turnaround, so much so that Sinner has won six of the last seven meetings between the two. The impact on the rankings was visible: he remained firmly at the top, also weathering the storm of criticism for not participating in the Olympic Games and the doping case. Sinner returns to where he discovered he was great. The other Italians in China Three other Italians have also qualified for the ATP 500 in Beijing. Lorenzo Sonego lost 2-1 to Frenchman Adrian Mannarino. Thursday 26 September will also see Flavio Cobolli face Kazakh Alexander Bublik (2:30 p.m. Italian time). Lorenzo Musetti (defeated in the final of the Chengdu Open), number 6 in the seeding, will have to wait until Friday 27 September to face Belgian Zizou Bergs (4 a.m. Italian time), who has qualified. Musetti is on the same side of the table as Sinner, Cobolli and Sonego, on Carlos Alcaraz’s side. Fabio Fognini failed to qualify, losing 2-1 to Arthur Rinderknech. The Italians in Japan During the same period (September 25 – October 1), the ATP 500 in Tokyo, Japan is also on the calendar. The head of the seeding of this tournament was Taylor Fritz (defeated by Arthur Fils), followed by Hubert Hurkacz and Casper Ruud. Among the Italians, only Matteo Berrettini has won, winning 2-0 and will face Fils on Friday. Botic van de Zandschulp. Luciano Darderi (eliminated in the first round by Mariano Navone), Matteo Arnaldi (Tommy Paul) and Mattia Bellucci (Jack Draper) were defeated. Luca Nardi was eliminated in qualifying by Botic van de Zandschulp. Remember that Tokyo is nine hours ahead, so 9 hours must be added to Italian time to understand the local time at which the Italian athletes will play. The doubles in competition The doubles are also in action this week. In Japan, Luciano Darderi, together with Tomas Martin Etcheverry, will play against Alex Michelsen and Alejandro Tabilo on Friday 27 September (matches starting at 3 am Italian time). Matches are also scheduled in Beijing on Friday 27 September: from 4 a.m., Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori (seeded players) will play against Aoran Wang and Yi Zhou, and Flavio Cobolli and Lorenzo Musetti will play against Neal Skupski and Michael Venus. The women’s WTA tour is planning the China Open in Beijing. Four Italian athletes are competing in this tournament of 1000. The spotlight is on Jasmine Paolini (number three in the seed list), who had a bye for the first round and will face Clare Tauson on her way. The Paris doubles gold medalist with Sara Errani can reach her best ranking if she overtakes Rybakina in fourth place in the rankings, falling to reach the semifinals. Marta Trevisan (against Taylor Townsead) and Lucia Bronzetti (against Naomi Osaka) have already been eliminated. Elisabetta Cocciaretto defeated Arina Rodionova and will play Elise Mertens. Ranking and points to be deleted by the end of the year Sinner currently has 11,180 points in the ATP rankings, followed by Zverev (not in Beijing), who has 6,875 points. After New York, Sascha is Sinner’s first rival. The German moved up two places at the US Open and will defend 1,335 points less than Jannik until the end of the season. 2024 tournament rankings Sinner: 9000 points; Zverev: 6105 points; Alcaraz: 6010 points; Djokovic: 3260 points; Medvedev: 4420 points. Points to be deleted by the end of the year Sinner: 2180 points; Zverev: 770 points; Alcaraz: 680 points; Djokovic: 2300 points; Medvedev: 1055 points. ATP 500 BEIJING Sinner: 2023 champion, points to defend 500; Djokovic: not in action this week, points to defend 0; Alcaraz: 2023 semi-finalist, points to defend 180; Medvedev: 2023 finalist, points to defend 300; Zverev: 2023 semi-finalist, points to defend 180 (cancelled). Where to watch the ATP in Beijing on TV and streaming The ATP 500 in Beijing can be seen on Sky Sport Tennis, Sky Sport Uno, Sky Sport Max. And streaming on NOW, Sky Go, Sky Sport Plus, NOW Extra Match, TennisTV. Jannik’s next commitments Masters 1000 Shanghai: October 2-13 (eliminated in the round of 16 last year) Six Kings Slam (exhibition): October 16-19. October ATP 500 Vienna: October 21-27 (defending champion, already announced he will not participate) Masters 1000 Bercy: October 28 – November 3 (withdrew before the round of 16 last year) ATP Finals Nitto: November 10-17 (lost in the final last year) Davis Cup Finals: November 19-24