TURIN, Italy — Jannik Sinner bought his title protection on the ATP Finals off to a strong begin earlier than his house followers with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Felix Auger-Aliassime on Monday.
To additionally declare the year-end No. 1 rating. Sinner must win the season-ending occasion for the highest eight gamers and hope Carlos Alcaraz would not attain the ultimate.
No. 8-ranked Auger-Aliassime appeared slowed by a left calf situation that arose close to the tip of the primary set. He was twice handled by a coach throughout the second set.
“It was very robust till 6-5 after which he had a bodily situation,” mentioned Sinner, referring to when he broke the Canadian’s serve to shut out the primary set.
Sinner received the title in Turin final yr with out dropping a set and hasn’t misplaced on the occasion for the reason that 2023 remaining to Novak Djokovic.
There was an indication held aloft within the crowd that labeled Sinner “Italian delight” and Sinner was serenaded with a soccer-like chant of “Ole, ole, ole. Sin-ner, Sin-ner” throughout his on-court post-match interview.
“It is a particular event and place for me,” he mentioned.
Sinner has received all 4 of his conferences with Auger-Aliassime this yr, together with a US Open semifinal and the current Paris Masters remaining.
Sinner and Alexander Zverev lead the Bjorn Borg group with one win every after Zverev beat Ben Shelton on Sunday.
The highest two finishers in every group advance to the semifinals.
Sinner received 89% of the factors when he put his first serve in, claiming 32 of these 36 factors.
“I’ve a really tough group, with individuals who serve actually, actually robust,” Sinner mentioned. “You want to stay centered virtually your complete match as a result of the second you concede a break it is robust to come back again.”
Fritz beats weary Musetti
Earlier, Taylor Fritz beat late entry Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 6-4.
In contrast to Musetti, who was making his debut, Fritz has pedigree within the event after reaching the ultimate final yr and the semifinals on debut in 2022. He’d additionally spent the previous week getting ready on the indoor court docket.
“A vital one to win I might say if I wish to make it out of the group,” Fritz mentioned. “He performs fairly completely different with the slices and every little thing. So it took me a while to get used to it.
“I used to be capable of keep away from getting damaged early within the match when he had some possibilities. Then I really feel like I form of bought into the match extra. … I assumed I performed rather well.”
Musetti was a late substitute for Djokovic, who withdrew with an injured shoulder after beating the Italian within the Athens remaining on Saturday. Musetti arrived in Turin solely on Sunday however could not journey his hometown crowd’s assist.
“I could not be at 100% in form, particularly bodily,” Musetti mentioned. “Mentally, I am actually glad that I am right here. I am tremendous pleased with myself, of my staff, of what we achieved. As we speak, I attempted to struggle with what I had.”
Fritz and Alcaraz lead the Jimmy Connors group with one win every, whereas Alex de Minaur and Musetti path with one loss every.
On Tuesday, Fritz performs Alcaraz and Musetti performs de Minaur.
