Cincinnati Open: Sinner demolishes Galan 6-1, 6-1. Musetti eliminated by Frenchman Bonzi.

More than a match, Jannik Sinner's first as defending champion on the scorching hard courts of Cincinnati, barely a month after his Wimbledon triumph, was a practice session attended, almost as a spectator, by the unfortunate Daniel Galan. Five-nil in 15 minutes, 6-1 6-1 the final score in 59 minutes , a pure Sinner (he lost one first serve point in the entire match) despite the holiday break. "Matches are different from training," Jan, perfectionist as usual, says. "I didn't know what to expect on my debut: it's not easy to play here, the surface is very fast and I felt the heat (32°C, ed. ). But I served well and everything went in the right direction, I'm happy with this debut." In the next round, he will face the Canadian Diallo, an unprecedented encounter.

Lorenzo Musetti's difficult spell continues, eliminated in three sets (5-7, 6-4, 7-6) by Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi, world No. 63, who had already upset Matteo Arnaldi. After the left leg adductor injury that cost him his Roland Garros semifinal against Alcaraz, Musetti hasn't regained his form, exiting in the first round at Wimbledon and winning just one of his last five matches. Hard courts, unlike Sinner, aren't his forte, but his hopes of reaching the ATP Finals inevitably depend on hard courts. Besides, over the past year, Lorenzo, currently No. 10 in the ATP rankings and No. 9 in the RACE, has accustomed us to impressive performances even away from his beloved clay.

Yesterday, he failed to make the decisive move, squandering two break points to lead 5-3 in the third set and then being caught out by a couple of out-of-class plays from the Frenchman in the tiebreak. Musetti's Turin ambitions now rest on a US Open worthy of his potential.