On Friday, world No. 13 Jannik Sinner will take on world No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open. These two met at the Australian Open back in January, and Tsitsipas cruised to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory. Sinner was actually favored in that match-up, as Tsitsipas was coming off elbow surgery a few weeks earlier. But the Greek superstar blitzed him there, and he moved to 3-1 in four career meetings with the Italian.
That blowout loss to Tsitsipas was something of a turning point in Sinner’s career. The uber-talented 20-year-old changed coaches after the Australian Open; Sinner has high expectations for himself, and he felt that the way that he played in that match was unacceptable. A few months later, the Italian will have the opportunity to prove that he made the right decision to change his team—even if it could take some time for him to see the end result of that move.