The French Gaël Monfils was beaten, in his first final of the year, at the ATP 250 tournament in Sofia by the Italian Jannik Sinner 6-3, 6-4, without ever seeming able to worry his opponent.
Broken from the start in the first and then in the second set, Gaël Monfils has always raced behind the 20-year-old Italian, 14th in the world.
The latter, who already won in Sofia last year, won the 4th title on his record on Sunday, having already beaten French in the 3rd round of the US Open in September.
Quiet, especially particularly effective behind his first ball (93% of points gained) Sinner never really trembled. Only a small point of concern to report, undoubtedly, in the first set, when he had to rule out two break points at 4-2.
Three exchanges later, he headed for the victory of the first set, before starting the second on the hats of wheel, immediately taking the service of Gaël Monfils.
The Antillean, 20th in the world, never had the opportunity to come back before the end of the meeting.
Exempted from the first round, and exempted from the second due to the withdrawal of Belarusian Ilya Ivashka, Monfils, semi-finalist in Metz last week, had dismissed the Italian Gianluca Mager 6-2, 6-2 in the quarter, then the American Marcos Giron 7-5, 6-0 in the semi-final on Saturday.
Monfils, who was aiming for an 11th title, was playing his first final since Rotterdam in 2020 the Italian Jannik Sinner, seeded No.1 and 14th in the world, who had beaten him in the 3rd round of the US Open in September.
Sinner, on the other hand, beat Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic 6-3, 7-5 in the semifinals.
This is the 4th title of the young Italian’s career, which won this year in Washington and Melbourne, after a first title in Sofia in 2020.
