Jannik Sinner matches Rafael Nadal as he becomes fifth man to achieve stellar feat with ATP Finals win
Jannik Sinner emulated a feat previously accomplished by four tennis legends by starting his campaign at the 2024 ATP Finals with a decisive win against Alex de Minaur.
The world No 1 prevailed 6-3, 6-4 over de Minaur in Turin to improve his head-to-head record against the 25-year-old Australian to 8-0.
Sinner lost his serve in the third game of the match, but he hit straight back and did not face another break point in the contest.
The 23-year-old Italian earned a second break to take a 4-2 lead en route to securing the first set, while a single break to go up 3-2 was enough in the second set.
In his post-match press conference, Sinner said: “I feel like every match, it’s very difficult to play against him (de Minaur). He’s a great fighter. You have to earn every point you play.
“But I still feel like that every time we play against, 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.
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“He was close also today in some moments. I managed to go away in the first and also in the second set.
“But if this is not happening and I don’t break him back on 2-1, it goes 3-1, the set can be over quite fast, so… I’m just happy because it’s a very tough match against him in any way.”
Sinner’s victory against the world No 9 was his 13th win against a player in the top 10 of the ATP Rankings this season.
He also recorded 13 wins against top 10 opponents in 2023, which makes him just the fifth player aged 23 or under to accomplish this in successive years on the ATP Tour.
Bjorn Borg (1977-79) and Ivan Lendl (1980-82) both earned 13 or more top 10 wins in three consecutive seasons while in this age bracket, while Pete Sampras (1993-94) and Rafael Nadal (2008-09) did it in two straight years.
Sinner now holds a 66-6 record in 2024, with his only loss to a player outside the top 10 coming against 12th-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Monte Carlo Masters.
The world No 1 has earned four of his top 10 wins this year against Daniil Medvedev, while he has downed Andrey Rublev and Novak Djokovic twice each.
The top 10 opponents Sinner has beaten once in 2024 are Holger Rune, Grigor Dimitrov, Hubert Hurkacz, Alexander Zverev and de Minaur.
