Read & Watch: Sinner Races Into Third Round

Jannik Sinner made a sharp start to his quest for a fourth consecutive ATP Masters 1000 title with a 6-3, 6-0 win in 64 minutes over Ugo Humbert Tuesday.

Sinner, who will return to World No. 1 Monday if he wins his first Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters title, dropped just two points on his first serve, did not face a break point and broke the Frenchman five times.

Chasing his fourth consecutive Masters 1000 title, he has now won 36 consecutive sets at this level.

Watched by eight-time Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt, Sinner moved confidently in his first match of the season on clay, cracking 19 winners – including six aces – to just 11 unforced errors. He next will play the winner of Argentine Francisco Cerundolo and Czech Tomas Machac.

“It was a good performance today from my side,” Sinner said. “You have to change your game style and how you approach certain situations, and the first match of a new tournament is never easy as I didn’t have a lot of time to prepare.

“You need to adjust to every surface. The most difficult part is understanding how much you’re going to slide when you slide, so sometimes I don’t have the right distance yet. But the best practice is always matches.”

Sinner, who on the Rolex Paris Masters last year and Indian Wells and Miami in March, is looking to join Novak Djokovic (three times) and Rafael Nadal as the only players to win four consecutive Masters 1000 titles.

He is also looking to become the first player since Djokovic in 2015 to win the first three Masters 1000 of the season.

(Photo: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour)