Sinner crushes Popyrin in Rome to make history with 25-0 Masters 1000 start to the season
Jannik Sinner (No 1) brushed past Alexei Popyrin 6-2, 6-0 in 65 minutes. The Italian’s Masters 1000 winning streak hits 30 – level with Djokovic for second on the all-time list, one off the Serbian’s own record.
Jannik Sinner, Roma 2026 | © Foto FITP
Top seed Jannik Sinner became the first man in tennis history to start a season 25-0 across the first five ATP Masters 1000 events with a 6-2, 6-0 dismissal of Australian No. 22 seed Alexei Popyrin in the round of 16 of the Rome Masters 1000, the world No. 1 needing only one hour and five minutes on Campo Centrale.
The win lifts Sinner’s run at Masters 1000 level to 30 matches, level with Novak Djokovic for the second-longest streak ever and one short of the Serbian’s own record of 31. Roger Federer reached 29, Rafael Nadal 23, Pete Sampras 19. Sinner’s overall winning streak now sits at 25 – 47 wins from his last 49 – and he has dropped only two sets from his last 62 played at Masters 1000 level.
Serve and volley on the break point
The Italian has now held serve 45 times in a row. The most striking moment of an otherwise procession-like performance came when he faced one break point at 2-1 for him, 30-40 in the first and chose, by his own admission, to serve-and-volley his way out of trouble on instinct. He won the point.
Conditions on Campo Centrale were swirling, and Sinner spoke afterwards about adapting his shape. “I feel like the wind was one way. You don’t have to change a lot. At the same time, when you play with wind you try to move the ball around a bit more. When you’re against the wind, I’m someone who tries to go quite flat. But it has been a very good performance from my side. It was very tricky conditions. He’s a big server. His percentage wasn’t very high, that helped me a bit. I’ve been returning very well on second serves. I’m extremely happy to be in the next round.”
Career Golden Masters trophy still missing
On the break-point serve-and-volley that drew the loudest cheer of the evening, he was characteristically plain. “I felt like it was the right thing to do. It was a little bit of wind. When you play with wind, it’s very tough to move the ball around. So I tried to serve and volley. It was just an instinct move.”
This is Sinner’s fifth Rome round of 16. The Italian, chasing his maiden home Masters 1000 title and the Career Golden Masters trophy still missing from his collection, will face the winner of the next match in his section in the quarter-finals.
Pellegrino, the Italian qualifier story of the tournament, awaits next round. The world No. 155, who beat Frances Tiafoe in the third round to reach his first round of 16 at a Masters 1000, will walk onto Campo Centrale to face a compatriot in the form of his life. The two have history of a sort: they met in the final of an ITF World Tennis Tour event in 2019, when a 17-year-old Sinner won 6-1, 6-1.
ROME MASTERS 2026 — ROUND OF 16
Sinner (1) vs Popyrin : 6-2, 6-0
Pellegrino (Q) – Tiafoe (20) : 7-6, 6-1
Rublev (12) vs Davidovich Fokina (21) : 6-4, 6-4
Basilashvili (Q) – Nakashima (30) : 7-6, 6-4
Medjedovic – Navone : 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Landaluce (LL) vs Bellucci : 6-4, 6-3
Cobolli (10) vs Tirante : Monday night session
Medvedev (7) – Llamas Ruiz (Q) : 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
Musetti (8) d. Cerundolo F. (25) 7-6(7), 6-4
Ruud (23) d. Lehecka (11) 6-3, 6-4
Khachanov (13) d. Van de Zandschulp 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
Prizmic (Q) d. Humbert (31) 6-1, 7-5
Jodar (32) d. Arnaldi (WC) 6-1, 4-6, 6-3
Tien (19) d. Bublik (9) 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
Darderi (18) d. Paul (16) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
Zverev (2) d. Blockx 6-1, 6-4
