Jannik Sinner weathers wild evening, multiple delays in Cincinnati vs. Gabriel Diallo

CINCINNATI, Ohio—Jannik Sinner navigated multiple delays to his Cincinnati Open third round, ultimately easing past Gabriel Diallo, 6-2, 7-6 (6).

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The world No. 1 and 2024 champion opened a Center Court night session that was already delayed due to a lengthy power outage on Monday; he weathered two more disruptions when the LED screens behind the players malfunctioned and a fire alarm went off during play—and saved a set point in the second set—to advance in one hour and 52 minutes.

Sinner made a strong start to his title defense on Saturday when he blitzed Daniel Elahi Galán with the loss of just two games, but was in for an unfamiliar challenge in the surging Diallo, a 23-year-old Canadian up to a career-high of No. 35 in the rankings after starting the year outside the Top 80.

Diallo first broke through on clay when he made the quarterfinals of the Mutua Madrid Open and continued building momentum on grass, winning his first ATP title at the Libéma Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and pushing Taylor Fritz to five sets at Wimbledon.

Taking on Sinner in the Italian’s second match since SW19, Diallo made a quick 2-0 start but soon saw that lead evaporate as Sinner clicked into gear. The reigning Australian Open, Wimbledon, and US Open champion reeled off the next six games, digging out of a 15-40 deficit to serve out the first set.

Despite the aforementioned fire alarm delay, Sinner and Diallo remained on serve to start the second set, Sinner winning a close eighth game to tie the contest at four games apiece. Diallo kept the pressure on, holding serve with a well-struck drop shot, and saved the first break point of the set to twice put himself a game from a decider.

Sinner shook off both deficits but fell behind 4-2 in the ensuing tiebreaker after winning the first two points. He looked to have swung the momentum back after the change of ends but Diallo drew errors from the top seed to earn a first set point.

The Canadian couldn’t convert and netted a volley to pull up match point for Sinner, who took full advantage of the lapse to secure victory with an ace.

Up next for Sinner will be the winner of the third round between No. 13 seed Tommy Paul (Sinner leads 4-1) and Adrian Mannarino (Sinner leads 3-0).