A Jannik Sinner It only took him three appearances to win one of the most important tournaments in men’s tennis, which Rafa Nadal himself resisted: the ATP Finalsformerly known as Masters or Masters Cup. In 2021 he came on as a substitute on the second day due to the loss of his compatriot Matteo Berrettini and appeared with a victory against Hubert Hurkacz, before losing against Daniil Medvedev. In 2023 he reached the final and lost it to Novak Djokovic. This Sunday, in a packed Inalpi Arena in Turin and with orange T-shirts, sweatshirts and vests in the stands, the 23-year-old transalpine player was proclaimed champion by beating Taylor Fritz in the duel for the title (double 6-4 in 1h24).
“It was an amazing week. It’s incredible, it’s my first title in Italy and it means a lot to me. It is something very special,” said the most famous redhead in his country. He is the first winner there and also the first tennis player to win the Finals without losing a single set since Ivan Lendl in 1986, 38 years later. He finishes the course on a streak of 11 victories, having triumphed in 26 of his last 27 games since the start of the Cincinnati Masters 1,000with only one defeat, the one inflicted on him by Carlos Alcaraz in the final in Beijing.
His season, on an individual level, is absolutely spectacular, on par with some of the best in the Big Four. He closes it with 70 victories, eight titles and number one in the world, figures that no one has reached since the recently retired Andy Murray finished 2016 with 78 and nine, also being the leader of the ranking. He culminated that campaign as Sinner, with the Master trophy.
Furthermore, 2024 could still get better for Jannik, if he retains the Davis Cup title with his nation next week in Malaga. A winner in Australia and the US Open, the one from San Candido added to his record the Masters 1,000 in Miami, Cincinnati and Shanghai, and the ATP 500 in Rotterdam and Halle, before putting the icing on the cake in the Finals. Only Federer (2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007) and Djokovic (2015 and 2023) had managed to win the three major hard court tournaments (Melbourne, New York and now Turin) in the same year.
Impenetrable
Fritz (27 years old and, as of today, number four in the rankings) could do nothing to take revenge for the defeat in the last US Open final.nor prevent a repeat of what happened just a few days ago in the group stage. He tried it, hitting Sinner with flat, low blows from the other side of the court, who hits the ball just as well standing up as he does crouching, with a power and precision that, right now, are within the reach of very few. And if necessary, he has a hand.
Jannik warned until he found the break for 4-3 in the first set. He then maintained the advantage after recovering a break point and continued to press in the second set against an opponent who served well. It didn’t matter, another break for 3-2 put Jannik on the way to an inevitable victory. Nobody has won so many times (17) in the top-10 in this exercise. He is the undisputed governor of tennis… with one but: that a claim from the World Anti-Doping Agency hangs over him for two positive cases of clostebol from which he was exonerated.
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Jannik Sinner
vs
Taylor Fritz
Sets:
