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In the second round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (Italian Open) in Rome, world No. 1 Jannik Sinner defeated Dutch fortunate loser Jesper de Jong in straight sets, extending his comeback from a drug suspension.

The Italian, who on Saturday overcame Mariano Navone in his first match in almost three months, followed that performance on Monday by defeating Jesper de Jong 6-4, 6-2.

Sinner gave up a break in the first set while playing in front of an enthusiastic Italian audience on Campo Centrale, but he swiftly rallied to take the lead. Then, at 1-3, 40/15 in the second set, the World No. 1 went through the gears against De Jong, who slipped and hurt his right wrist.

Sinner gave the 24-year-old a towel after helping him get up. At 2-3, the World No. 93 was given a medical timeout while wearing a lot of straps around his wrist. The Dutchman was severely hindered and could not continue, often shaking out his wrist in between points.

Since the beginning of the 2023 US Open, Sinner has improved his record against players rated outside the Top 20 in the PIF ATP Rankings to 61-0 and extended his winning streak to 23 games with his one-hour, 35-minute victory.

In only his second encounter since winning his third major at the Australian Open in January, Sinner moved quite smoothly and hit the ball with precise precision. According to Infosys ATP Stats, the top seed was aggressive on return, winning 71 percent of games on De Jong’s second serve. On his first match point, he won the game by dictating the crucial points from his position near the baseline.

Sinner will next face Francisco Cerundolo in Rome as he advances to the fourth round for the fourth time. Sebastian Ofner lost to the Argentine, who was just in the Madrid semifinals, 6-2, 6-4. The two have a 2-2 series overall, with Cerundolo defeating Sinner in their last Lexus ATP Head2Head match in Rome in 2023.

In other matches on Monday, Italian 20th seed Matteo Berrettini quit from his match after falling down 7-5, 2-0, while Casper Ruud of Norway, ranked sixth, proceeded to the Round of 16. In a two-and-a-half-hour match, Tommy Paul of the United States overcame Tomas Machac of Czechia 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4, while seventh seed Alex de Minaur of Australia downed Bolivia’s luck-loser Hugo Dellien 6-4, 6-4.

After defeating their respective opponents, Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina, Jakub Mensik of Czechia, Jaume Munar of Spain, and Hubert Hurkacz of Poland also made it to the next round.