Sinner Soars To ATP Finals Title, Beats Fritz Again

Jannik Sinner wrapped up 2024 tour calendar as the clear No. 1 player in the world and the clear best player on hard courts after collecting the ATP Finals title easing past Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4.

“For sure it was a very high-quality week, starting from the beginning, trying to understand the pace of the court, which then increased a little bit, which is normal because it was a bit more consumed.

“I just tried to play the best possible tennis I could in every single moment, which I’ve done here. The crowd helped me a lot. It was for sure one of the most special weeks I’ve had in a tennis court.”

Sinner finishes with the three biggest hard court titles on the calendar — Australian Open, US Open, and the ATP Finals. Plus, the star won Miami, Cincinnati, and Shanghai among his nine season titles. He’s 70-6 on the season, 50-3 on hard courts.

“My goal was to understand what I can achieve this year. There was no specific goal of winning a Grand Slam or being No. 1 or whatever,” Sinner said.

“It’s going to be the same next year: whatever we can catch, we take, and the rest we learn. I think that was the mentality we approached this whole year, trying to raise my level in specific moments, which I’ve done throughout this year.”

Sinner won his first ATP Finals without dropping a set, only losing serve one in seven break points faced, and he dropped a total of 33 games. Today, he faced just one break point, breaking in the seventh game of the first set and the fifth in the second.

Thanks to the groupings and outcomes, Sinner did not have to face rival Carlos Alcaraz nor world No. 2 Alexander Zverev. He beat Fritz twice, Daniil Medvedev, Casper Ruud, and Alex de Minaur.

Fritz dropped his fourth straight to Sinner, third in as many months. But the American made massive strides in 2024, shoring up his shaky forehand and getting faster. He’ll finish No. 4 in the rankings.

“I think something I told my team was, whenever it was, 2023 when I won Delray right before I was defending the Indian Wells title, when I hit 5 in the world for, like, a week, I was kind of like, That’s crazy, I’m 5 in the world, look at all these guys ranked behind me that are probably better than me.

“Back then I was 5, but I didn’t feel like I was 5. Now I’m ranked where I’m at. I feel like I belong. It’s a different feeling. It’s been a great year. That gives me a lot of confidence to have that belief. That’s a huge part of having the big results.”

Fritz and Sinner could meet one more time in Davis Cup semifinals next week in Spain.