Jannik Sinner will attempt to close out one of the greatest hard court seasons of this century with his first ATP Finals title on Sunday as he eased into the final in Turin with a devastating 6-1, 6-2 win over Casper Ruud.
The world No 1 will face Taylor Fritz, the fifth seed, after Fritz toppled Alexander Zverev in a tense, quality tussle to reach the final for the first time. In a bruising battle between two of the best servers in the world, Fritz held on to narrowly defeat Zverev 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (3). The ATP’s season-ending finale final will mark a rematch of the US Open final where Sinner dismantled Fritz in three sets to win his second grand-slam title.
In what has developed into an extraordinary breakout season, Sinner has now compiled a 69-6 overall record in 2024 and he is now 49-3 on hard courts. Only Carlos Alcaraz, twice, and Andrey Rublev have defeated him on his favourite surface this year. After also reaching the final last year with an unbeaten 4-0 run before losing to Novak Djokovic, On Sunday Sinner, who reached the final in Turin in 2023 before losing to Novak Djokovic, will look to win his eighth title of the season.
“Very similar circumstances and moments because we played already in the round robin and now the final again but I just try to play the best I can tomorrow,” said Sinner. “Everything can happen. I’m just happy to be back here. From last year now, I feel like I have more experience, I’ve grown as a player and hopefully tomorrow is going to be a good day. If not, again, a very positive week again. This year has been a very positive year so I’m very happy.”
From the beginning, Sinner separated himself from Ruud by dominating the baseline with his relentless depth, weight of shot and consistency off both wings. Not only was Ruud completely overwhelmed from the baseline, even when he managed to impose himself with his heavy forehand, he simply could not consistently hit through the Italian’s supreme defence. Sinner closed out a devastating performance with 23 winners and just nine unforced errors.
After one of the best weeks of his career, Fritz will rise to a new career high world ranking of No 4. As the first American to reach the final since James Blake in 2006, he will also get a second chance against Sinner this week after losing to the Italian in the group stages. Fritz has now also defeated Zverev on four consecutive occasions this year, including in the fourth round of Wimbledon and the quarter-finals of the US Open.
“A big thing is just I trust my game and I trust my level, and I don’t feel nearly as uncomfortable in these situations any more because I’ve been putting myself in these situations, playing the top guys at big events a lot lately, I’m getting more comfortable in the moment and I’m really confident in my game,” said Fritz.
As was the case in their other wins this year, Fritz was able to neutralise almost all of Zverev’s biggest strengths. He matched Zverev’s immense serving and, unlike many other players on the tour, Fritz’s excellent backhand allows him to easily hold his weight in the cross-court backhand rallies, a pattern Zverev often uses to break down opponents.
Deep in the third set Fritz continued to serve brilliantly and he locked down his game in the important moments, refusing to offer up any free unforced errors. As Fritz held his nerve, it was the German who crumbled under pressure, his forehand spraying loose errors on key points as Fritz closed out a brilliant win.
