Sinner extends indoor dominance with victory over De Minaur and reaches ATP World Tour final

Jannik Sinner continued his total dominance of the indoor season as he held off an admirable early challenge from Alex de Minaur before powering his way to the ATP Finals for the third year in a row with a stunning 7-5, 6-2 win, extending his winning record against the Australian to 13-0.

Sinner continues to perform at an astonishing level, quickly moving up the list of all-time greats. In a season that included a three-month doping ban between February and May, Sinner will attempt to win his sixth ATP title of the year in his tenth final. The 24-year-old has won 30 consecutive indoor hard court matches and 14 straight matches following his recent victories at the Vienna Open and the Paris Masters. He has also won 18 consecutive sets at the ATP Finals.

“Making finals in Turin three times in a row means a lot to me,” he said. “It’s a great atmosphere, a great place for me to play tennis and also a great place for me to end this beautiful season.”

The tournament is one match away from what many consider the dream final: a sixth and final showdown between world No. 2 Sinner and No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in a season defined by the duo.

Alcaraz will look to join Sinner in the semi-finals on Saturday evening, where he will face eighth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime. The in-form Canadian defeated Alexander Zverev in straight sets on Friday evening to reach the semi-finals of the ATP Finals for the first time. On Thursday, Alcaraz sealed his year-end No. 1 status by rolling through his group with a flawless 3-0 record.

De Minaur arrived in the semi-finals with little reason to believe he could make things difficult for Sinner, an opponent against whom he has won two sets in thirteen meetings. Their form this week further illustrated the challenge ahead. While De Minaur narrowly survived the group stage, qualifying via tiebreak rules despite losing two of his three matches, Sinner powered his way through his group without dropping a set.

For more than an hour, however, De Minaur threw everything he could at Sinner with some of his best play of the tournament. He forced himself inside the baseline and had to make frequent half-turns while trying to maintain his field position. The Australian also served well, saving Sinner’s first seven break points as they reached 5-5, and used his astonishing defensive skills to make the court look as narrow as possible for his opponent.

His best efforts were far from sufficient. As has always been the case, Sinner overpowered De Minaur with much more powerful groundstrokes. He also continued his own excellent serving form, emerging from the tight opening set having landed 82% of his first serves. With the first set secured, Sinner opened his shoulders and knocked his helpless opponent off the court to reach another final in front of his jubilant home crowd.