World No. 1 Jannik Sinner defeated Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4 to move to 2-0 at the Nitto ATP Finals on Tuesday in Turin, Italy.
In a rematch of September’s U.S. Open finals, Sinner hung on to win in an hour and 40 minutes and improved to 7-0 on indoor hard courts this year. The Italian sits atop the Ilie Nastase Group standings with one group-stage match to go.
Sinner hit six aces without a double fault and saved the only break point he faced while winning 30 of 39 first-service points (76.9 percent).
“It was a very tough match,” Sinner said. “We got to know each other very well in a Grand Slam final. We knew exactly what to expect (Tuesday). He was very aggressive and I was prepared.”
Neither player broke serve in the second set until Sinner won the 10th game to finish off the match. In the seventh game, he went down love-30 before charging back to hold serve.
“I just tried to serve very well in the important moments, which I did. That was a very crucial game in the second set, I was down 0/30. If he breaks me there, the momentum could change,” Sinner said.
Th fifth-seeded Fritz held his own, hitting seven aces without a double fault and winning 30 of 38 first-service points. But he had 31 unforced errors to Sinner’s 22.
Fritz is now 1-1 through two matches after he beat fourth-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-3 on the first day of competition. Fritz and Medvedev are still vying for a berth in the four-man semifinals after Medvedev improved to 1-1 with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Australian seventh seed Alex de Minaur on Tuesday.
“I went into this match blocking the noise, even from myself,” Medvedev said. “I really didn’t care what was happening on the court, I just tried to play, and it was a good feeling. Sometimes it’s good to block it (the noise), and I did that well.”
Medvedev never faced break point, winning 27 of his 32 first-service points and 11 of his 15 second-service points along the way. He converted 3 of 4 opportunities to break de Minaur and finished with a 25-9 advantage in total winners.
Medvedev will face Sinner Thursday in the final day of group stage matches, while Fritz will take on de Minaur. The other group features Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, Alexander Zverev of Germany, Casper Ruud of Norway and Andrey Rublev of Russia.
–Field Level Media
