Panatta confident about Sinner in Rome: "Ruud and De Minaur lost before even stepping on the court"
Sinner won his first match in Rome against Navone (6-3, 6-4) and will face De Jong in the next round. Without difficulty, the Italian made a successful return to competition after his suspension on February 9.
In a new episode of *La Domenica Sportiva*, Adriano Panatta shared his thoughts on the world number one. According to him, the draw favors Sinner all the way to the final:
"I think he has a favorable draw because he’s in the top half while all the strongest players are in the bottom half. The only one who could trouble him a bit is the winner of Berrettini-Ruud. However, Ruud loses before even stepping on the court against Sinner, and the same goes for De Minaur. They might as well take a shower first because they’ve already lost in advance.
As for his main rivals, one is Alcaraz and the other is Musetti. The Spaniard has a problem—he always wants to express himself to the fullest, trying to do too much. He needs to understand that matches must also be managed. Musetti, on the other hand, is a player very close to him and, in my opinion, could soon become Jannik’s true rival, with a very versatile game. I say this because others like Zverev or Ruud lose before even stepping on the court."
Rome 
