Sinner Sees Room For Improvement After ATP Finals Win

Jannik Sinner, ATP Finals, Turin
Jannik Sinner (photo: Giampiero Sposito/FITP)

TURIN/WASHINGTON, November 18, 2024 (by Michael Dickens)

To the casual observer, World No. 1 Jannik Sinner saved his best tennis of 2024 for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin that concluded with the Italian lifting his first year-end title trophy Sunday evening.

Looking back, after he defeated World No. 4 Taylor Fritz, 6-4, 6-4, in an hour and 24 minutes before an enthusiastic sold-out crowd that filled Inalpi Arena, Sinner went 5-0 – won all of his matches impressively in straight sets, the first to do so since Ivan Lendl in 1986 – and by the time he won his first of what could be many year-end final trophies, he joined Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as the only men to win Australian Open, US Open and Nitto ATP Finals titles in the same season.

A pundit suggested afterward that the level-headed Sinner’s successful run to the ATP Finals title was completed with brutal, ruthless efficiency. It’s hard to disagree.

With Sinner’s tour-leading 70th victory secured, in which he served 14 aces, struck 28 winners to just nine unforced errors, won 83 percent of his first-serve points and converted two of six break-point opportunities, the 23-year-old South Tyrolean from San Candido, became the first Italian champion in the 55-year history of the tournament.

“It’s amazing, it’s my first title in Italy and it means so much to me,” Sinner said during an on-court interview before receiving the Nitto ATP Finals champion’s trophy. He had just improved to 50-3 on hard courts this year. “It’s something very special. I just tried to understand what works best for each opponent, trying to play my best possible tennis. That was the key.

“It was a very high-level tournament from my side. At times, I couldn’t have played better, so I am very happy.”

Sinner defeated Fritz for the second time this season after beating him in straight sets during the US Open final in September. The 27-year-old from California was attempting to become the first American champion at the ATP Finals event since Pete Sampras in 1999. However, it was not meant to be against Sinner, who extended his current winning streak to 11 matches after outpointing Fritz 63-54.

Still, Fritz remained upbeat when he spoke to reporters during his post-match news conference. “It’s been a really good week for me, it’s a good way to end the year,” he said. “Gives me a lot of confidence finishing the season. Going into my off-season, starting next year, I feel like I have a good idea of what things I need to improve on, but I also feel like I’m playing very good tennis.

“Back when I was 5 [in the world], I didn’t feel like I was 5. Now I’m ranked where I’m at, I feel like I belong. It’s a different feeling. It’s been a great year. That gives me a lot of confidence to have that belief. That’s a huge part of having the big results.”

As for Sinner, he summed up his feelings during his champion’s news conference by declaring: “I just tried to play the best possible tennis I could in every single moment, which I’ve done here. The crowd helped me a lot. It was for sure one of the most special weeks I’ve had in a tennis court.

“Yeah, I’m very happy to have this trophy.”

Looking ahead to next season, Sinner suggested there’s room for improvement in his game. “I mean, today I served very, very good at items, which was not the case throughout the whole tournament,” he said. “There are still certain shots and points what I can make sometimes better, but [they] are small details. The higher you play level-wise, the more details make the difference.

“I’m not looking about being the first whatever. It’s just stats what’s not written. Me, [I] always try to improve as a player and [try] to understand what I can do better.

“This week was something where I always felt the ball very good. Even in practice sessions, it was very smooth-going. The connection with the crowd was very nice.

“Let’s see what’s coming next year. The future, nobody can predict.”

History-making doubles title won by Germany’s Krawietz and Puetz

Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz of Germany not only won their first ATP Finals doubles crown together Sunday afternoon in Turin. The eighth-seeded German duo also became the lowest-ranked team to lift the trophy at the ATP Tour season-ending finale.

Krawietz and Puetz defeated Year-End No. 1 doubles team Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Mate Pavic of Croatia, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6) in an hour and 38 minutes to become the first German team to clinch the title in the 55-year history of the ATP Finals event. Krawietz, a 32-year-old native of Coburg, and Puetz, 36, from Frankfurt, combined to serve four aces, won 83 percent of their first-serve points, faced no break points and outpointed Arevalo and Pavic 73-70.

“I don’t know how to put it into words, it’s an amazing achievement from us,” said Krawietz, after he and Puetz won their second ATP Tour title of the year (the first was at Hamburg on clay in July) and moved up to No. 4 in PIF ATP Live Doubles Team Rankings. “I’m very proud of us, we are proud of the whole team, everyone at home. To end the year here winning the title, it’s unbelievable.”

Puetz added: “Two weeks ago I couldn’t even walk, now we are here having won the tournament. It’s amazing.”

Indeed, Puetz suffered a calf injury at the European Open in Antwerp, Belgium last month and doubted whether he would be healthy in time for Turin.

“I mean, I did everything I could for really the past four weeks to be able to be here,” Puetz said during the champion’s post-match news conference. “Then, once the tournament started, it was really just a bonus being here because I was pretty close to not being here at all.

“I think it made playing maybe a bit easier – at least in the beginning. Once you got the first win, second win, you qualify for the semis, you don’t care or think about the calf too much anymore.”

After Krawietz and Puetz beat Arevalo and Pavic for the second time in a week, after defeating them in group play, they improved to 5-2 in their career head-to-head against the Salvadoran/Croatian pair. All seven clashes came during the 2024 season.

Krawietz was asked if coming in as the No. 8 team helped relieve the pressure and enabled him and Puetz to play more freely. He replied: “We arrived here. We said, ‘Okay, let’s see, we can beat everybody. Let’s see how we survive the group.”

The Germans went 2-1 in Bob Bryan Group play, finishing first, then defeated No. 5 seeds Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson of Australia, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (4), in Saturday’s semifinal round.

“Yeah, we had a pretty tough match in the semis,” Krawietz said. “We were set and break down. We got a little bit lucky maybe in that one. Yeah, final was pretty close, as normal in doubles.”

Looking back on their 2024 campaign, in which they went 46-19, Krawietz reflected on what he described as a “very good” season. “We played one Grand Slam final (US Open). I think our second season was a little bit better than the first one, so we improved. We like our team. We like the work with our coaches.

“I think ending up with the title here, of course, it’s the first big title. It’s the third title in total. So we are very happy and proud.”

By the numbers

According to the ATP Tour website, this year’s Nitto ATP Finals attracted a record-breaking on-site audience of more than 183,000 spectators to Inalpi Arena. All 15 sessions sold out across the eight days of the event. Prize money this year reached $15.25 million – an all-time tournament record.

“Quotable …”

“For sure, it’s one of the best because we are in Italy and he was unable to play in Rome. I think this one makes more special this victory. At least same of the two slams, at the same place I think.”

– Simone Vagnozzi, Jannik Sinner’s coach, asked during a post-match news conference where among all the incredible wins by Jannik this year he would rank winning the ATP Finals trophy.

 

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