Matching Report
Sinner sweeps past De Minaur in Turin's opener
The home favorite is chasing a record eighth Tour trophy in 2024
November 10, 2024
Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
Jannik Sinner playing Sunday against Alex de Minaur in the Nitto ATP final.
Written by Andy West
Jannik Sinner quickly shook off some early rust in a stunning victory on Sunday night at the Nitto ATP Finals.
The home favorite won 6-3, 6-4 against Alex de Minaur to start his 2024 campaign at the end of the season. Competing in his first match since lifting the Rolex Shanghai Masters trophy on 13 October, Sinner responded brilliantly with a stoppage in the third game of the match against De Minaur. He scored the winner in 85 minutes at the Inalpi Arena to go 1-0 in the Ilie Nastase Group.
“If you consider [how long since I last played]I am very happy,” said Sinner. “I started with unforced errors. He was playing well at the beginning of the match, so I just tried to hang in there mentally, knowing that hopefully at some point my tennis will come. Early morning came, and I began to recover very well.
“My performance, I definitely have to improve if I want to [win] the next game. Against Taylor [Fritz] for example, today you played very well. Let's see, but today I'm very happy to win and I hope this will give me confidence for the next one.”
🎶🇮🇹 Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole… SIN! SIN! 🎶🇮🇹@janniksin begins his search #NittoATPFinals title with a comprehensive victory over de Minaur on home soil! pic.twitter.com/v4G696CjHe
– ATP Tour (@atptour) November 10, 2024
A finalist at last year's Nitto ATP Finals, Sinner this year returned to Turin as the first Italian number 1 in the history of the PIF ATP Rankings. Despite his early composure against De Minaur, the 23-year-old showed signs of discomfort in his first world tour-level match for 12 months. He dragged De Minaur down the court with heavy groundstrokes from both wings and was always aggressive on his return.
After winning four straight games from 1-2 en route to the opening set, Sinner earned the decisive break of the second set in the fifth game. He completed the victory to the delight of the home crowd, which included fellow Italian sports stars: fellow ATP stars Flavio Cobolli and Lorenzo Sonego, WTA World No. those who are happy are sinners.
“It has to be the crowd,” Sinner said when asked what he likes about playing at home. “It has to be strength. I like to play at home. It's a great honor, and I've been looking forward to it. Today was a fun night. I didn't play Rome [this year]so it was the first game [in 2024] in Italy. The reception was so warm, so wonderful. I can't wait for the next one.”
Sinner showed the kind of explosive firepower that has been the foundation of his rise to World No. 1 against De Minaur. He beat the Australian with 19 winners from seven, and won 81 percent (26/32) of the points after his debut, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
With Sunday's win, Sinner improved to 8-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series against Nitto ATP Finals debutant De Minaur. He has now won seven consecutive tour-level matches and has registered a combined Tour-leading 66 wins this year (tied with Alexander Zverev). The Italian will look to extend his winning streak to eight on Tuesday when he faces either Daniil Medvedev or Taylor Fritz in his second group stage match.
It was not going to be an easy task for De Minaur to defeat the World No. 1 in his maiden appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals, but the 25-year-old can still break out of the Ilie Nastase Group with strong performances against him. Medvedev and Fritz.
“I knew my career was over,” said De Minaur. “I thought I had a good start, then I started slipping. I couldn't put up with the level I needed today to beat Jannik.
“His ball speed, in my eyes, is much higher than other people. On both sides he is strong. He keeps improving. He has improved his performance a lot over the years.
“I always weigh my chances [of progressing out of the group]. I think the way I see it is that Jannik was the only player in the group that I never beat. Some players I have had some success with. Now I'm not playing number 1 in the world, I'll be looking forward to that.”
