Italy are guaranteed to play the semi-finals before their match against Daniil Medvedev after Fritz’s victory against De Minaur.
World No.1 Jannik Sinner is guaranteed to participate in the semi-finals of the ATP Masters even before his third group match against the Russian Daniil Medvedev on Thursday evening, after the victory of the American Taylor Fritz against the Australian Alex De Minaur 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.
By winning the first round 7-5 against Fritz (5th in the world), De Minaur (7th) offered Sinner his ticket to the last four.
But the Australian lost all hope of qualification by conceding the next two rounds and his third defeat in three matches in this “masters tournament” that he was discovering.
Fritz, winner of two out of three group matches, can reach the final four, provided that Sinner beats Medvedev or loses in three sets.
“I’m going to have to wait to find out what’s going to happen, it’s hard. I will watch their match and hope for the best,” said the American.
“It was a complicated match against a complicated opponent, formidable from the baseline,” he continued.
Sinner, who won his first two matches at the 2024 ATP Masters, against De Minaur and Fritz, will finish first in his group if he wins a set, regardless of the result of his match.
The Italian, unfortunate finalist of the 2023 edition of the ATP Masters and winner of seven tournaments this year including the Australian Open and the US Open, has never won an ATP circuit tournament in front of the Italian public.
The match between Fritz and De Minaur is the first in the singles tournament of these ATP Masters to have been played in three sets, the previous eight matches having been decided in two sets.
