By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday November 9, 2024
Jannik Sinner improved to 8-0 lifetime against Alex de Minaur to move to the top of the standings at the ATP Finals.
Photo Source: TTV
Facing a familiar foe led to a familiar disappointment for Australia’s Alex de Minaur on Sunday at the ATP Finals in Turin.
The Aussie, making his debut at the ATP’s prestigious year-end championships, took an early lead against top seed Jannik Sinner but was quickly called to task by the lethal game of the World No.1. Sinner responded in kind, took over proceedings and raced a way with a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 victory to move to the top of the Ilie Nastase Group (along with Taylor Fritz, who also won in straight sets over Daniil Medvedev) in front of a packed house at the Inalpi Arena in Turin.
“I’m very happy,” Sinner said on court after his win. “I started off with some unforced errors and he was playing great in the beginning of the match. I just tried to stay there mentally, knowing that at some point my tennis will arrive.”
De Minaur entered the contest having dropped his last 13 sets against Sinner, but hope was in the house when he drew first blood, breaking for 2-1 in the opening set. That hope would soon fizzle however, as the 23-year-old instantly broke back and reeled off the next four games to lead 5-2 in set one.
On this day, Sinner’s perfect record against the Aussie would remain intact. He improves to 8-0 lifetime against De Minaur and he has now won the last 15 sets the pair have contested.
Sinner closed the opening set in a tidy 36 minutes, forcing a De Minaur forehand into the net with pace and depth.
After four consecutive holds of serve to open the second set, this year’s Australian Open and US Open champion continued his charge.
A deep, driving backhand return forced a backhand error from De Minaur for a break and a 3-2 lead in set two. Not long after Sinner had three match points and he hammered his eighth ace of the evening down the T to close out the contest in one hour and 24 minutes.
Sinner cracked 19 winners against 20 unforced errors; De Minaur hit just seven winners and committed 21 unforced errors. Critically, the Aussie was only able to win 37 percent of his second-serve points.
“I started to return very well,” Sinner said when asked to assess his performance. “Serve for sure I will have to improve, but today I’m very pleased about the win and hopefully this win gives me confidence for the next one.”
With his win Sinner improves to 66-6 on the season, and 46-3 on hard courts. In a 2024 that has seen him span the heights as he became Italy’s first men’s singles Grand Slam champion since 1976, and the first man from his country to ever hold the No.1 ranking, Sinner is aiming to put the cherry on top.
Last season Sinner became the fourth Italian to participate in the ATP Finals, and the first to play in the championship match, where he fell to Novak Djokovic. This year he’s bidding to take that extra step and make more history for himself and his country in the process.
So far, so good.
“I love to play at home,” he said. “For me it’s a huge honor… I can’t wait for the next one.”