Jannik Sinner reaches the round of 16 of the “Mutua Madrid Open”, the second Masters 1000 on clay in 2024, with a total prize money of 9,249,713 euros, underway at the Caja Magica in the Spanish capital. On the “Manolo Santana”, the 22 year old from South Tyrol defeated Pavel Kotov 6-2 7-5 after about an hour and 40 minutes of play, overcoming a break in the second set where he had gone 3-5 down and where he appeared to be suffering from pain at the hip. Sinner, first seeding favourite, will challenge 27-year-old Karen Khachanov, seeded number 16, who defeated Flavio Cobolli 7-5 6-4. The one between Khachanov and Sinner will be the fifth match: the Russian won only in the first, at the 2020 US Open, then three successes for the blue, the last of which in the round of 16 of the last Australian Open.
“It was a difficult match, in the first set I was quite comfortable while in the second I had some more difficulties, I struggled a lot in my service games, I didn’t find a good rhythm. It went better from the baseline but let’s see what it is better tomorrow for my body.” Having reached the round of 16 in Madrid after beating Kotov, Jannik Sinner confirms that he is not in his best condition. “I’ve had this problem with my right hip recently, nothing serious, sometimes it’s stronger and other days it’s better – he underlines – I have a good team that looks after me, I hope they look after me well to play tomorrow and be at the 100%”.