Jannik Sinner defeats Alex de Minaur to reach the championship match of the ATP Finals

Jannik Sinner has done his bit. Now it’s up to Carlos Alcaraz to win one more match and set up another important final against his biggest rival.

Sinner defeated Alex de Minaur 7-5, 6-2 on Saturday – improving to 13-0 against the Australian – to reach the championship match of the ATP Finals in front of his home fans.

Second-placed Sinner aims to retain his title in the season-ending tournament for the year’s top eight players. In Sunday’s final, Sinner will face Alcaraz or Felix Auger-Aliassime, who played later.

Alcaraz has already secured the year-end No. 1 ranking, but is looking to reach its first final at this event.

Sinner and Alcaraz have met in the last three Grand Slam finals: Alcaraz defeated Sinner in a fifth-set tiebreak to win the French Open; Sinner got a measure of revenge by beating Alcaraz for the Wimbledon trophy; then Alcaraz again came out on top at the US Open.

Sinner also won the Australian Open – beating Alexander Zverev in the final – so he and Alcaraz each won two majors this year.

It is the third consecutive final in Turin for Sinner, who has not dropped a set in the final since being defeated by Novak Djokovic in the 2023 championship match – a run of 18 consecutive sets.

Sinner saved three break points in his opening service game after falling behind 0-40 and eventually managed to break De Minaur for a 6-5 lead before serving out the set.

The second set was never really in question, as Sinner jumped out to a 4-0 lead.

“I was happy with how I served and how I responded in the important moments,” Sinner said.

Sinner extended his winning streak on indoor hard courts to 31 matches – also dating back to the 2023 final against Djokovic. This week he didn’t drop his serve.

Sinner’s first professional victory over De Minaur came in 2019 in the final of the Next Gen ATP Finals. Sinner won 29 of the 31 sets played.

“I know how to beat him. It’s just not that easy to do,” De Minaur said. “You have to hit the ball very hard, very flat, very deep and very close to the lines. It’s something I try to do, but it’s obviously not the easiest thing to do… I have to serve well throughout the match. My serve dropped a little bit and could have been better.”