Jannik Sinner won the ATP Finals , the first Italian to do so in the history of tennis. The South Tyrolean defeated the American Taylor Fritz with a score of 6-4, 6-4 , the same score with which he defeated him in the round robin.
A tournament dominated by the world number 1, who won without losing a set in the five matches played, a feat achieved in the past only by Ivan Lendl .
Fritz also plays well and scores three first serves out of four (he is one of the best servers on the circuit), but when he enters the exchange he can do nothing against the power of Sinner's shots, simply from another planet in this 2024 and today implacable also on serve with 14 aces (often placed in key moments) and a percentage of first serves above 70% . In the first set they proceed to 3-3 following the service games, with Jannik holding his with great ease. In the seventh game the world number 1 steps on the accelerator and scores the break, closing with a splendid forehand drop shot . The Italian trembles a bit when it's time to close, but gets out of trouble with three aces and a winning serve, and by canceling a break point he wins the first set 6-4.
The turning point of the second set came in the fifth game, when Sinner broke with one of his proverbial backhands down the line . He then conceded little in the following service games and closed after an hour and 24 minutes of play in the jubilation of the Inalpi Arena in Turin.
"It's a special moment, it means a lot to me to win in front of this incredible crowd. I tried to find a better key than last year, today there was more tension. I'm happy to share this with the Italian crowd ", these were Sinner's first words after his triumph in the "masters" tournament.
The world number 1 thus closes the ATP season with 8 tournaments won (two Slams, three Masters 1000, two ATP 500 and the Finals), with 70 victories and just 6 defeats, with 11,830 points, a quota surpassed in the past only by Djokovic, Nadal, Federer and Murray . Numbers that already at 23 years old put him in the Olympus of world tennis, Sinner is at the 18th tournament won in his career.
A 2024, his, started great (three wins in the first four tournaments, Melbourne, Rotterdam and Miami, defeat in the semi-finals at Indian Wells) and concluded great (four wins in the last five, Cincinnati, US Open, Shanghai and Finals, in between the defeat in the final at Beijing). Now, with the ATP season over, the last commitment remains, that of the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga in which Italy takes to the field on Thursday against Argentina for the quarter-finals. With Sinner, Musetti, Berrettini and doubles players Bolelli and Vavassori have been called up .
