One has to hand it to Sebastian Ofner. The veteran has toiled and made a career out of playing professional tennis. He didn't back down against Jannik Sinner in the second round of the 2026 Rome Masters, hitting with bombast and well-struck groundstrokes.
But let's be real: No one currently is ready to challenge Sinner for supremacy, and that goes not just for titles, but for individual sets. Winning three or four games in a set is a true accomplishment, and that isn't hyperbole. Even while Ofner hit with power, he lacked everything else that Sinner is capable of.
In the opening set, Ofner got those three games. He earned them. He tried to push Sinner into the corners and hit to the body on first serves. Against many players, he might have been more successful. The issue is that the Italian doesn't mind running down balls in the corners, as he can immediately turn from defense to offense and force opponents to adjust.
Jannik Sinner dispatches Sebastian Ofner in the second round of the 2026 Rome Masters
The Austrian even landed 70 percent of his first serves to Sinner's 56 percent, but Ofner couldn't get to a break point on Sinner's serve. He didn't really come close as the Italian took the opening set 6-3.
For every important point that Ofner would hit a fantastic shot, Sinner would find and answer in a creative way that the Austrian didn't expect. Such is the magic of Jannik Sinner.
To start the second set, Sinner broke Ofner, and there was little doubt in the outcome of the match. Serving at 3-2, Sinner was pressed a bit, having to fight off points at deuce, but he never appeared on the verge of losing the game. One simply believed he would find a way through, and he did.
In the next game, Sinner almost got another break, but Ofner, through sheer will and great serving, just when he needed to most, was able to fight the Italian off. The challenge was trying to break Sinner, one that seemed impossible to achieve.
The match was delayed two different times late because of two different persons having an emergency medical situation in the stands (the persons turned out to be OK). The second came after Ofner had held, and before Sinner started his service game in full to try to win the match. After dropping the first point, Sinner then won the next four to take the second set 6-4.
With the victory, Sinner takes one more step toward winning his first Italian Open. He would be the first Italian man to win the home tournament since 1976. A tournament victory would also give Sinner a title at every one of the Masters 1000 events, becoming, at 24 years old, the youngest to ever win all nine of the tournaments at that level.
Jannik Sinner will next face the winner of the Jakub Mensik and Alexei Popyrin match in the third round. Expecting an outcome different than Sinner winning seems foolish at this point.
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