MELBOURNE: Jannik Sinner continued his hot streak of form to race into the third round of the Australian Open for the third successive year with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 demolition of Dutch qualifier Jesper de Jong on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old Italian fourth seed, favoured by some as a potential champion at Melbourne Park after a stellar finish to last season, completely dominated the world No 161 under the closed roof of the Margaret Court Arena.
Sinner, who banged down seven aces and 26 winners, faced not a single break point over the entire contest while winning an impressive 45% of his return points.
There were sympathetic cheers from the crowd when De Jong finally got on the scoreboard in the final set but Sinner was soon serving out to love to book a meeting with Daniel Elahi Galan or Sebastian Baez.