TURIN, Italy – Jannik Sinner got his ATP Finals title defense off to a solid start in front of his home fans with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime on Monday.
To also claim the year-end No. 1 ranking. Sinner must win the seasonal event for the top eight players and hope that Carlos Alcaraz does not reach the final.
The No. 8 seed Auger-Aliassime appeared slowed by a left calf problem that developed toward the end of the first set. During the second set he was treated twice by a trainer.
“It was very tough until 6-5 and then he had a physical problem,” Sinner said, referring to the moment he broke the Canadian’s serve to end the first set.
Sinner won the title in Turin last year without dropping a set and has not lost at the event to Novak Djokovic since the 2023 final.
A sign was held up in the crowd reading Sinner “Italian pride” and Sinner was addressed during his post-match interview on the field with a football-like chant of “Ole, ole, ole.” Sinner, Sinner’.
“It’s a special tournament and a special place for me,” he said.
Sinner has won all four of his meetings with Auger-Aliassime this year, including a US Open semi-final and the recent Paris Masters final.
Sinner and Alexander Zverev lead the Bjorn Borg group with one win each after Zverev defeated Ben Shelton on Sunday.
The top two finishers from each group will advance to the semi-finals.
Sinner won 89 percent of the points when he posted his first serve, claiming 32 of those 36 points.
“I have a very difficult group, with people who serve very, very strongly,” Sinner said. “You have to stay focused pretty much the whole game because once you get a break it’s hard to come back.”
Fritz defeats the tired Musetti
Earlier, Taylor Fritz defeated late entrant Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 6-4.
Unlike Musetti, who was making his debut, Fritz has a good reputation in the tournament after reaching the final last year and reaching the semi-finals on his debut in 2022. He had also prepared for the indoor track last week.
“A very important one to win, I would say, if I want to get out of the group,” said Fritz. “He plays very differently with the slices and stuff. So it took me some time to get used to it.
“I was able to avoid being broken early in the game when he had some chances. Then I feel like I got more into the game. … I thought I played really well.”
Musetti was a late replacement for Djokovic, who withdrew with an injured shoulder after beating the Italian in the Athens final on Saturday. Musetti only arrived in Turin on Sunday, but could not muster the support of his hometown.
“I couldn’t be 100 percent in shape, especially not physically,” Musetti said. “Mentally I’m very happy to be here. I’m super proud of myself, of my team, of what we achieved. Today I tried to fight with what I had.”
Fritz and Alcaraz lead the Jimmy Connors group with one win each, while De Minaur and Musetti trail with one loss each.
On Tuesday Fritz plays Alcaraz and Musetti plays Alex de Minaur.
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