For top favorite Jannik Sinner, the $15.25 million ATP Finals in Turin started as desired. The tennis world number one from South Tyrol retained the upper hand on Sunday in a duel with the Australian Alex de Minaur with 6:3,6:4. US Open finalist Taylor Fritz had previously taken a step towards the semi-finals of the season finale for the top eight players with a 6:4,6:3 victory over former ranking leader Daniil Medvedev from Russia.
De Minaur’s ATP Finals debut started well, as he took his opponent’s serve to make it 2-1. However, that was a wake-up call for Sinner, who gave the right answer with two breaks and two service games won, much to the delight of the home crowd, and moved away to 5-2. The 23-year-old didn’t let this advantage be taken away from him. In the second set, the only break that made Sinner 3-2 was decisive. De Minaur was no match for the Italian’s more powerful game, and he scored his first match point after 1:24 hours.
It was Sinner’s first appearance since winning the title on October 13th at the Masters 1000 event in Shanghai. “Because of the long break, I’m very happy with the win,” said Sinner in the winner’s interview on the pitch. At the beginning he made life difficult for himself with unforced errors. “But then I found my level. I’m very happy, the win will hopefully give me a lot of confidence for the next matches.” The audience plays a not unimportant role for him. “I felt the energy from the stands, it was a great night, I can’t wait to play again.”
Medvedev was extremely frustrated in the first game of the “Ilie Nastase” group. In the first set he made a series of double faults at an inopportune time. Three double errors on her own serve and the score was 4:5 led to the loss of the set. Medvedev then suffered a point deduction in the middle of the second round. The world number four was annoyed by a lucky, successful lob from Fritz, threw his racket and was warned a second time. Medvedev had to accept the break to make it 2:4. Fritz was allowed to start the next game at 15:0. The game was thus decided.
The best two of the two groups of four reach the semi-finals of the year-end tournament. The “John Newcombe” group starts on Monday with the games of Carlos Alcaraz (ESP-3) against Casper Ruud (NOR-6) and Alexander Zverev (GER-2) against Andrej Rublew (RUS-8). Of the eight best in the ATP rankings, Novak Djokovic (5th) had to miss out injured, which means that for the first time in 23 years none of the “big three”, in addition to Djokovic, the already retired Roger Federer and almost “retired” Rafael Nadal, at the “Masters ” is there.
