Jannik Sinner rallies past Taylor Fritz to clinch ATP Tour Finals on home soil

By News Update On Nov 18, 2024

New Delhi: World No.1 Janniker Sinner clinched the ATP World Tour Finals on Sunday after rallying past American player Taylor Fritz in straight sets at the Inalpi Arena in Turin, Italy. This was the first season-ending title for the home boy who has emerged this year as the next bright thing set to loom in the world of the sport.

After bagging Australian Open and US Open on hard courts, the Italian prevailed over Fritz with identical scores of 6-4, 6-4, a similar score line which was seen in the group stage, to bag his eighth title of the calendar year.

“It’s amazing, it’s my first title in Italy and it means so much to me. 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,” Sinner said.

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

THE UNDEFEATED ITALIAN KING 👑🇮🇹
In front of his adoring public, World No. 1 @janniksin becomes the first Italian to capture the Nitto ATP Finals title, defeating Fritz 6-4 6-4!!!#NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/fObgL0n4U9
— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 17, 2024

Sinner has extended his head-to-head record against Fritz by a 4-1 tally. He also triumphed over the World No.5 in the US Open final in September. Sinner has ended the year with a dominant record on hard courts with 50-3 win-loss ratio.

The 23-year-old also becomes first player from Italy to win the ATP Finals, and that too just days after became the first man from his country to top the ATP year-end rankings.

According to a report by news agency AFP, Sinner’s 70th win of the season puts him as the first player to win the tournament without dropping a set since Ivan Lendl in 1986

His Tour-leading 70th win of the season made him the first player since Czech-American Ivan Lendl in 1986 to win the tournament without dropping a set.

“I tried to make myself better than last year, to find the keys to win this final. I’m very happy to have handled this pressure and to share this success with the Italian crowd,” said Sinner.

Here’s how Sinner cut his task against Fritz

The first set went in Sinner’s favour after an enthralling seventh game which lasted nine minutes and was eventually won on the fourth break point. And despite Fritz’s best efforts he couldn’t fight back, failing to get a single break point in the second set and succumbing to his opponent’s superiority.

Fritz fell short in his bid to become the event’s first American champion since Pete Sampras in 1999 but will rise to a career-best of fourth in the rankings Monday.

“With the good results, it’s been a great week for me,” said Fritz. “I want to congratulate Jannik and his team because he plays incredible tennis, really incredible.”