‘Normal’ Sinner romps to 21st title, top seed Swiatek upset by Navarro in Beijing event

Jannik Sinner won the 21st title of his career by thrashing American teenager Learner Tien at the China Open on Wednesday as women’s top seed Iga Swiatek was dumped out in the last 16 in a shock.

The Italian Sinner lifted the trophy for the second time on Beijing’s hard courts, having done so on his tournament debut in 2023, and a return to world number one is within view after a ruthless 6-2, 6-2 win.

Sinner’s only ever loss on the centre Diamond Court has been to great rival and top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, who won last year’s final in three gripping sets.

“A very, very special place for me,” said the victorious Sinner, who got past a couple of three-set scares and a bout of diarrhoea to reach the final.

Alcaraz was not defending his title in the Chinese capital and on Tuesday won the Japan Open in Tokyo.

Sinner is the third man to win multiple China Open titles, matching Rafael Nadal’s record at two but so far well short of Novak Djokovic’s six.

“I always say comparing me to Novak, he’s in a different league with everything he has achieved in his career,” Sinner, a four-time Grand Slam champion, said.

“I’m just a normal 24-year-old who tries to play the best tennis possible.”

But he added that his silverware collection has outgrown his home, telling reporters his trophies go “in my parents’ place always”.

“My apartment is quite small, so there’s not a lot of space.”

Sinner broke immediately in the first set on the way to outclassing the 19-year-old Tien, who was in his first ATP final.

The world no. 52 got a rare chance to break in the second game of the second set but Sinner quickly retook control, ending a one-sided match with 10 aces over the 1h 12min final.

“I just think the pressure he puts on you point to point is really tough,” said Tien, who had been bidding to become Beijing’s lowest-ranked champion in tournament history.

As it was, he was never really in the final, despite some flashes of his rich potential.

Sinner’s emphatic win was his third title this season, after victories at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

He may now be able to snatch back the top ranking before the season ends after Alcaraz pulled out of the Shanghai Masters injured on Tuesday.

The Spaniard took the world number one ranking from Sinner when he defeated the Italian in the US Open final last month.

Sinner will be the top seed in Shanghai, which began this week and where he is defending champion.

In the women’s draw in Beijing, Emma Navarro stunned Poland’s world number two Swiatek 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 to reach the quarter-finals.

The six-time Grand Slam champion hit 70 unforced errors across the nearly two-and-a-half hour struggle -- her second-most ever in a single 1000-level match.

“I just played bad today,” Swiatek said as she dispelled fears of injury.

“I kind of knew what I’m doing, but I don’t know, I was just stuck in doing it wrong rather than actually solving it.”

Navarro, world no. 17, next plays either fellow American Jessica Pegula or Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk.

Swiatek, who won the China Open in 2023, saved four break points in the very first game but struggled for fluency throughout the first set, firing a slew of shots just long.

She sent down six aces and wrestled back control in the second set, but a commanding Navarro raced away with the deciding set as Swiatek’s game spectacularly deserted her.

“I definitely had some adjusting to do after our last couple times playing,” said the 24-year-old, who had lost both previous meetings to Swiatek.

“I wanted to come out and play calm and steady and focused tennis.

“I did that, so I’m happy with the way the match went tonight.”

Britain’s Sonay Kartal beat world number five Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 2-6, 7-5 in another surprise to clinch her first top-10 win.

Kartal, ranked 81st, next plays world no. 27 Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic in what will be her first 1000-level quarter-final.

Agencies