Cincinnati Open: Jannik Sinner overcomes 'difficult day at the office' marred by rogue fire alarm to see off Gabriel Diallo - ‘I struggled a bit’
Published 12/08/2025 at 08:34 GMT+1
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Jannik Sinner beat Gabriel Diallo 6-2 7-6(6) after play was disrupted by a fire alarm sounding in the 1899 club grandstand in Cincinnati. After the match, World No. 1 Sinner admitted it had been a "difficult day at the office" and that he was glad he had not encountered such struggles in a Grand Slam. Next up for Sinner will be a round-of-16 contest against Adrian Mannarino.
Highlights: Sinner saves set point to down Diallo in Cincinnati
Video credit: TNT Sports
Jannik Sinner beat Gabriel Diallo in straight sets at the Cincinnati Open, after the match was disrupted by a fire alarm.
A fire alarm at the 1899 club delayed proceedings in the second game of the second set, before Sinner closed out the third-round match 6-2 7-6(6).
While the Italian extended his winning run on hard courts to 22 matches, he admitted finding the contest "difficult".
"I feel like today was a very difficult day at the office," Sinner said. "He was serving very well, especially in the second set. Against big servers you always have to find the right balance at the back of the court.
"If you don’t play well in tough situations like this you can lose these matches.
"Today I struggled a bit at times. But I'm still very happy. I need these tough matches... getting used to very difficult situations. I'm very happy this happened before a Grand Slam."
The start of Sinner and Diallo’s encounter had been delayed after a power outage at the venue had halted Taylor Fritz’s earlier match with Lorenzo Sonego.
When they did eventually take to the court, Sinner overcame a two-game deficit in the first set to romp into a 6-2 advantage.
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The recently-crowned Wimbledon champion was pushed to a tie-break in the second set, but ultimately came out on top.
Sinner has not lost on a hard court since falling to Carlos Alcaraz in the Beijing final last October.
And his next test on the surface will be a round-of-16 contest against Adrian Mannarino, after the 37-year-old Frenchman earned a 5-7 6-3 6-4 win over Tommy Paul.
Elsewhere, Fritz went on to claim a straight-sets 7-6(4) 7-5 win over Sonego, and former champion Madison Keys earned a 6-4 6-0 win over Japan's Aoi Ito.
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