Jannik Sinner relies on forehand to thwart Alex Michelsen in Cincinnati, now 45-5 in 2024

Coming into Cincinnati, Jannik Sinner has played 10 tournaments in 2024. At every stop along the way, he’s reached the quarterfinals or better.

On Wednesday, the world No. 1 took his first step towards making it 11 for 11 at the Cincinnati Open. Facing American Alex Michelsen, Sinner saved all eight break points he faced to move through, 6-4, 7-5.

Speaking to press afterwards, the 22-year-old pointed to his forehnad as the difference maker on the court.

“Felt like it was today, a very important shot against him. Now, he's a very smart player, he uses the backhand really, really well,” explained Sinner. “So I tried to push a bit more with the forehand when I had the chance to. The court is quite slippery and fast so then (the) more flat you can play sometimes, the better it is.”

Having missed the Paris Olympics with tonsilitis, Sinner advanced to the final eight in Montreal before bowing out to Andrey Rublev. Coming off the court after defeating Michelsen, Sinner said his hip, which has been problematic at times this year, “reacted really good” to the conditions at the Lindner Family Tennis Center.

The reigning Australian Open champion has now won 45 matches from 50 contested this season, a measure of consistency that has given him plenty of confidence to rejoin the winner’s circle having triumphed most recently at June’s grass-court event in Halle.

“It's not easy to play the highest level throughout one year or so. There’s always going to be a couple of moments where you drop a bit, but with the right mentality, then you can restart again. So I'm looking for that, and then we'll see,” said Sinner, who next meets Jordan Thompson.

Later in the day, Frances Tiafoe took down Sinner’s countryman Lorenzo Musetti in convincing fashion. The American broke the No. 14 seed twice in each set to secure a 6-3, 6-2 victory.

Tiafoe has put together a mixed North American hard-court summer swing. A semifinal showing at his hometown event in Washington, D.C. was sandwiched in between a 1-1 effort in Atlanta and opening-round loss at Montreal.

For a place in the quarterfinals, the former US Open semifinalist awaits the winner of 2019 champion Daniil Medvedev and Jiri Lehecka.