Jannik Sinner sends clear message to Carlos Alcaraz in Luca Nardi demolition at Wimbledon

Jannik Sinner fired a warning to Wimbledon title rival Carlos Alcaraz with a scintillating win over Luca Nardi on Tuesday. Top seed Sinner was irresistible against his compatriot and came out with a one-sided 6-4 6-3 6-0 scoreline less than 24 hours after Alcaraz laboured to a five-set win over retiring veteran Fabio Fognini.

Although Sinner tops the world rankings, Alcaraz is very much the man to beat at this year's tournament, having lifted the trophy in 2023 and 2024. That made the Spaniard's stuttering start that much more surprising on Monday, with 38-year-old Fognini pushing him all the way on Centre Court.

Alcaraz's off-colour display left the door open for Sinner to make a statement on Tuesday, and he did so emphatically against Nardi. While Sinner saved his very best stuff until the last set, when he humiliated his 21-year-old opponent with a bagel, the tone was set at the very start of the match when the favourite held comfortably and then immediately asked questions on Nardi's serve.

It stayed on serve right up until Nardi had the chance to level it up at 5-5. But Sinner took the first set being within reach as his cue to up the ante, and he produced a superb forehand down the line en route to a timely, set-winning break.

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Sinner held, broke and then held again at the start of the second set, and never relinquished control from that point. The floodgates really opened in the third as Nardi flagged, potentially due to the searing heat inside Court 1, with the man from South Tyrol racking up six games without reply.

As the top two seeds in the men's draw, Alcaraz and Sinner will not meet until the final - providing they make it that far. But each player will be keen to lay down a marker as the rounds tick by.

In his on-court interview with the BBC, Sinner said: "I'm very, very happy to come back here. Playing against an Italian is very unfortunate but the atmosphere, as always, was amazing. I know it's very hot and humid - I don't remember the last time it was like this in London.

"We have worked a lot on the serve. I felt like I served very well in the important moments. I'm very happy with how I ended the match and hopefully that gives me the confidence to start the next match well."

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