By BBC (Sports) | Created at 2024-11-17 19:08:49 | Updated at 2024-11-17 21:54:29
2 hours ago
Jannik Sinner became the first Italian to win the ATP Finals title as he earned a commanding straight-set victory over American Taylor Fritz in Turin.
World number one Sinner capped a superb year, in which he has also won the first two Grand Slam titles of his career, with a 6-4 6-4 win over the fifth-ranked Fritz.
With that victory - his 70th in 2024 - the 23-year-old became the first player to take the title at the season-ending ATP Finals without losing a set since Ivan Lendl in 1986.
Amid his remarkable successes in 2024, the reigning Australian Open and US Open champion has also been embroiled in an ongoing doping controversy which has left his immediate future in the sport uncertain.
After a spectacular light show and dramatic music built the tension, Sinner received a hair-raising reception as he walked on to the court in front of his home support.
The home favourite rose to the occasion, losing just one point across his opening three service games before breaking Fritz’s resistance with a sumptuous drop shot on his fourth break point in game seven.
Sinner landed 16 winners and 10 aces in a clinical first-set display but needed to dismiss a first break point for Fritz before taking his second set point on serve.
However, Fritz, who lost the US Open final to Sinner in straight sets, was powerless to deny his unrelenting opponent and failed to create another opportunity.
The American, set to reach a career-high rank of world number four on Monday, hit long to concede a break in the fifth game of set two - and once again Sinner held his nerve to complete victory and delight the Turin crowd.
Earlier on Sunday, German eighth seeds Tim Putz and Kevin Krawietz overcame top seeds Marcelo Arevalo 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6) to win their first ATP Finals title.
The eight-day ATP Finals are contested by the eight singles players and eight doubles teams who have accumulated the most ranking points over the season.
It has been an eventful year both on and off the court for Sinner and, 12 months on from defeat by Novak Djokovic in his first final appearance at the ATP Finals, the Italian would not let slip his latest opportunity to clinch the title.
With the additional experience and confidence supplied by winning his first two Slam titles and emerging as Italy's first world number one, Sinner thrived on the atmosphere provided by a passionate, partisan crowd to become the first man since Andy Murray in 2016 to earn as many as 70 wins and eight titles in a season.
Sinner, once a promising young skier, is the first Italian man to end the year as number one and, as demonstrated throughout inside the Inalpi Arena, has emerged as a sporting icon in his home country.
His popularity has proven unwavering this week in Turin, despite an ongoing investigation into his failed doping tests after he twice tested positive for the banned substance clostebol in March.
Sinner was cleared of fault or negligence by the International Tennis Integrity Agency and permitted to continue playing after successfully challenging his provisional suspension.
However, the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) challenged that finding in September and launched an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas), seeking a ban of between one and two years.
Sinner, whose defence said he was inadvertently contaminated by the banned substance by his physiotherapist, put aside that controversy to win the US Open 19 days after being cleared.
With this latest triumph on home soil in Turin, he has asserted himself as the leading men's player heading in to 2025.
But while his potential is undeniable - he has joined serial Slam winners Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer as the only players to win the three biggest hard court events in a season - his pursuit of further success could depend on the outcome of a Cas hearing.
