Jannik Sinner is the top-ranked player on the ATP tour for a reason. He is the most consistent player on the tour, and consistently reaches the highest levels of success. But this is the time of season when he is even more dangerous.
As good as the Italian is on clay and grass courts, having picked up his first Wimbledon title in July, he is nearly unbeatable on hard courts. He has won back-to-back Australian Opens and won the US Open in 2024. He could make it two in a row in September.
The fact is that it would take a special effort from an opponent, coupled with an atrociously poor performance by Sinner, for the Italian to lose on hard courts. The issue for his opponents, such as Daniel Elahi Galan experienced on Saturday in the Cincinnati Open, is that Jannik Sinner doesn't have bad days.
Jannik Sinner dispatches Daniel Elahi Galan easily in straight sets
Sure, he lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the greatest match ever in the final of the French Open, but that happened on clay and took otherwordly play by the Spaniard to earn the win. When the two meet on a hard court, Sinner is going to have the advantage.
Galan made it through qualifying and won in the first round, so he did have something to feel good about in steamy Cincinnati. To lose to Jannik Sinner in the second round is nothing to feel about, either, even if that score was 6-1 6-1 in favor of the Italian.
Galan even had five aces, which is excellent against a great returner like Sinner. Still, the ATP No. 1 broke the 144th-ranked Colombian five times, and Galan won just one point off Sinner's first serve. The Italian also played exceedingly clean with 17 winners against just four unforced errors.
In other second-round Cincinnati Open play, Tommy Paul defeated
Pedro Martinez Portero in straight sets, Holger Rune defeated Roman Safiullin in two tight sets, but Arthur Rinderknech upset Casper Ruud in three sets.
Red-hot Iga Swiatek won her second-round match in straight sets, too. She has become a much better non-clay court player and should be a real threat to win in Cincinnati and at the US Open.