"He will be top 10 very soon," Paire told Sky TV. "I know next time he will beat me for sure, so it's good to beat him now."
Paire, who is equally capable of the sublime and the ridiculous, started well.
He was solid on serve, not giving any openings to his younger opponent, and forced three break opportunities, taking one.
Although his backhand is a weapon, his forehand can be erratic but was on song on Monday night, as he barely missed.
But world No 78 Sinner, who was ranked outside the top 500 a year ago, is a wonderful talent, with poise and shot making well beyond his years.
He came back into the match with some scintillating tennis, as Paire seemed to self destruct.
The world No 24 got frustrated with himself, and the crowd, at one point saying to the umpire that some spectators' conversations were distracting him during points.
He earned two code violations, and a point deduction, and Sinner took full advantage, converting three of the 11 break point opportunities to take the second set.
The final set was a doozy, featuring some of the best tennis of the night.
Sinner had the crowd gasping with a forehand across his body over the highest part of the net, followed soon afterwards off balance backhand on the run.
The Italian saved two match points serving at 3-5 – with the second an audacious slashing forehand deep to the deuce corner, but Paire's booming serve enabled him to claim the match in the next game.
