Sinner shrugs off hip pain, holds off Kotov to reach last 16 in Madrid

Top seed Jannik Sinner shrugged off some discomfort in his right hip as he beat Russian Pavel Kotov 6-2, 7-5 to reach the last 16 of the Madrid Masters at the Caja Magica on Monday evening.

The Australian Open champion trailed 5-3 in the second set and saved a set point before coming back to record victory, setting up a clash with either Italian Flavio Cobolli and Russian Karen Khachanov, the No 16 seed, next.

But Sinner, who took some pills at one stage and stretched out his hip, admitted he has been dealing with pain.

“I’ve been struggling a little bit in the last period with my right hip,” he said. “We are trying to find a solution. I think it’s nothing serious but sometimes I feel the pain more intensely, like today. I have a great team taking care of me. I will try to be 100 per cent tomorrow. Let’s see tomorrow what is best for my body but I’m looking forward to it.”

In the previous round of the Madrid tournament, the 22-year-old Italian won against Lorenzo Sonego (6-0, 6-3).

Kotov, ranked No 72, defeated Spanish qualifier Albert Ramos-Vinolas (6-3, 6-4) and edged out Australian Jordan Thompson, the No 32 seed (5-7, 6-4, 7-5) in the previous rounds of the Madrid tournament.

Madrid Masters 1000, other third-round results (Caja Magica, clay, EUR 7.877.020, most recent results first):

• Flavio Cobolli vs. Karen Khachanov: monday
• Casper Ruud (5) beat Cameron Norrie (29): 6-2, 6-4
• Felix Auger-Aliassime beat Jakub Mensik: 6-1, 1-0 ret.
• Rafael Nadal beat Pedro Cachin: 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3
• Daniil Medvedev (3) beat Sebastian Korda (25): 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-3
• Jiri Lehecka (30) beat Thiago Monteiro (Q): 6-4, 7-6 (7)
• Alexander Bublik (17) beat Ben Shelton (14): 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4
• Alexander Zverev (4) beat Denis Shapovalov: 6-4, 7-5
• Francisco Cerundolo (21) beat Tommy Paul (15): 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-2
• Taylor Fritz (12) beat Sebastian Baez (18): 6-2, 6-3
• Carlos Alcaraz (2) beat Thiago Seyboth Wild: 6-3, 6-3
• Hubert Hurkacz (8) beat Daniel Altmaier: 6-4, 7-6 (2)
• Andrey Rublev (7) beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (27): 7-6 (10), 6-4
• Jan-Lennard Struff (23) beat Ugo Humbert (13): 7-5, 6-4
• Tallon Griekspoor (24) beat Holger Rune (11): 6-4, 4-6, 6-3