Sinner crushes Kokkinakis to extend unbeaten 2024
Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner continued his unbeaten start to the year with a dominant victory over Australia's Thanasi Kokkinakis at Indian Wells.
The Italian followed up his Melbourne triumph by winning another title in Rotterdam, beating another Australian Alex De Minaur in that final.
In his first match as world No.3, he eased to a 6-3 6-0 win against a helpless Kokkinakis.
Including his three singles victories in guiding Italy to Davis Cup success last November, Sinner has now won 16 matches in a row.
The 22-year-old, who could climb to No.2 in the rankings this fortnight, said: “You always can set goal after goal and then, when you reach one goal, try to work hard for the next goal. I feel like I still have to improve many things.”
De Minaur, who made up for the Rotterdam disappointment by defending his title in Acapulco a week later, raced to a 6-1 6-2 win over Taro Daniel in less than an hour.
No.6 seed Alexander Zverev also cruised to a straight sets win over Christopher O’Connell, while Tallon Griekspoor defeated Yannick Hanfmann 6-3 6-3.
No.2 seed Carlos Alcaraz dropped the first set but recovered to win 7-6 (7-5) 6-0 6-1 over Matteo Arnaldi.
Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild shocked No.15 seed Karen Khachanov 6-1 7-5, Stefanos Tsitsipas took little more than an hour to dispatch Lucas Pouille and American Ben Shelton escaped wild card Jakub Mensik 4-6 6-3 6-4.
Three-time grand slam champion Angelique Kerber claimed her biggest victory since returning to the WTA Tour in January after the birth of daughter Liana a year ago.
The German came from a set down to defeat No.10 seed Jelena Ostapenko 5-7 6-3 6-3, while Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova was a 6-0 6-2 winner against Bernarda Pera and world No.1 Iga Swiatek saw off Danielle Collins 6-3 6-0.
Caroline Wozniacki, who also recently returned to the tour after becoming a mother, followed in Kerber’s footsteps with a 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 win over Donna Vekic.
American Katie Volynets pulled off one of the upsets of the tournament when she defeated No.6 seed Ons Jabeur 6-4 6-4.
Other seeds, Marketa Vondrousova, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Jasmine Paolini and Veronika Kudermetova, faced little turbulence as they each swept their way through to the third round.
