TURIN/STARNBERG, November 11, 2024
After a year of triumphs across the globe, Jannik Sinner has returned to Italy seeking to cap his remarkable 2024 season with a final triumph on home soil. Currently ranked World No. 1, Sinner leads the line-up at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin. There, he aims to go one step beyond his impressive performance from last year, when he reached the championship match in front of an electrifying crowd at the Inalpi Arena.
Now 23, Sinner is ready to embrace that energy once more as he chases the prestigious season-ending trophy. He began his title run with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 7 seed Alex de Minaur of Australia on Sunday evening. Sinner struck eight aces and won 81 per cent of his first-service points to succeed in one hour and 25 minutes.
No place like home @janniksin wins in his first match at the #NittoATPFinals as World No.1 defeating De Minaur 6-3 6-4! pic.twitter.com/aeD6s4Qbk7
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) November 10, 2024
“I’m glad that I managed to play this kind of level today,” said Sinner, who competed in his first tour-level match since his triumph at the Rolex Shanghai Masters last month. “It’s a great start for my side for this event, for this tournament, considering I haven’t played an official match in four weeks.
“Every match, it’s very difficult to play against him. He’s a great fighter. You have to earn every point you play. Every time we play, he changes a couple of things, so I have to be very aware. It’s very difficult. We don’t have to see only the result, but also how the match goes.”
Fritz beats Medvedev
In the opening round-robin match in Group Ilie Nastase, Taylor Fritz beat Daniil Medvedev of Russia 6-4, 6-3. The fifth favourite from the United States converted two of his four break-point chances to prevail after one hour and 20 minutes.
Too good, @Taylor_Fritz97
Fritz defeats 2020 #NittoATPFinals champion Medvedev 6-4 6-3 for a first victory in the Ilie Nastase group pic.twitter.com/wfMoa42R6e
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) November 10, 2024
“[The serve] was a big part of it for sure,” said Fritz. “He’s such a good returner. You can make a lot of first serves, but if they are not very high quality, he just puts so many returns in the court.
“It was huge for me, I hit a lot of lines, a lot of spots to start out games. I got out of a lot of service games [with] no pressure. Some of the ones we got tight in, I was either able to grind through the long rallies or get myself some free points.”
