Melbourne, Australia – World No. 1 Jannik Sinner showcased his formidable form ahead of the Australian Open, defeating local talent Alexei Popyrin in a thrilling exhibition match at Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday. The match, which was part of a charity event, saw Sinner secure a straight-sets victory with scores of 6-4, 7-6 (2).
The match began with Sinner dominating Popyrin’s serve, creating nine break points to one. Despite Popyrin managing to hold his serve in several crucial moments, Sinner broke through in the ninth game of the first set, capitalizing on a double fault by Popyrin to take a 5-4 lead and eventually serve out the set.
The second set was more competitive, with Popyrin breaking Sinner’s serve to go up 4-2. However, Sinner displayed his resilience and mental fortitude, breaking back while Popyrin was serving for the set at 5-3. The set went to a tiebreak, where Sinner took an early mini-break and comfortably closed out the match with a 7-2 tiebreak score.
Sinner, who won his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open last year, is now aiming to become the fourth man to win back-to-back titles at the tournament since 2000. Reflecting on his performance, Sinner said, “2024 was an amazing season for me, but it’s already gone, so we are 2025. We start every year here in Melbourne, which is an amazing city. So many things happened for me on the court and off the court, very special ones, so I’m very happy to be back here playing these kinds of matches.”
The victory serves as a promising start to Sinner’s Australian Open campaign, and fans are eagerly anticipating his performance in the main draw. Sinner will face another challenge in the form of Stefanos Tsitsipas in another exhibition match on Friday.
Sealed with a delightful touch 🪽
Jannik Sinner beats Alexei Popyrin 6-4, 7-6(2) in a charity match on Rod Laver Arena! 👏#AO2025 pic.twitter.com/qVcOQeYysN
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 7, 2025
Jannik Sinner in 2025
WWWWWWWWWW Now ranked no.1, Jannik played his last match on the 24th of November 2024 when he defeated world no.40 Tallon Griekspoor 7-6(2) 6-2 in the Rubber 2 of the Davis Cup (draw).
Currently, during this season the Italian has achieved a composed 73-6 record.
He is also scheduled to play at the Australian Open (Australian Open) on the 12th of January and () on the 13th of January.
Alexei Popyrin in 2025
Ranked no.25, Alexei played his last match on the 31st of December 2024 when he lost to world no.38 Matteo Arnaldi 6-3 6-2 in the 1st round in Brisbane (draw).
At present, during this year Alexei owns an overall 0-1 win-loss record.
Jannik Sinner and Alexei Popyrin played each other only on 1 occasion. Their record is 1-0 for Popyrin.
