24-year-old Dutchman De Jong, the 93rd-ranked player on the ATP rankings, surprised the crowd in the Italian capital by beating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the second round of the Italian Open, and thus became Jannik Sinner's second opponent since returning from his doping suspension.
Down two breaks at 4-1, De Jong fought back to get to break point in the sixth game and got a break back on the Italian. After losing in De Jong's service game, Sinner erased two break points after upping his pace. A double fault put De Jong back in the driver's seat and earned the Dutchman his second-straight break against the Italian ace.
De Jong concluded a sloppy service game with a mishit and got Sinner back in the game, gifting the Italian the opportunity to serve for the set. The three-time Grand Slam champion made the most of this opportunity and took the set after a brave fight from De Jong: 6-4.
Injury trouble
De Jong and Sinner kept up their high-quality fight at the start of the second set, but after a tumble and injuring his right wrist, De Jong couldn't keep up the challenge and forfeited the final three games of the set without winning a single point.
Sinner won the final set 6-2 and set up a meeting with Argentinian Francesco Cerundolo, who eliminated Sinner from the Italian Open in 2023.
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