World number one Jannik Sinner humbles Alex De Minaur in his first match of the ATP Finals

World No. 1 Jannik Sinner opened the 2024 ATP Finals in Turin with an impressive victory, defeating world No. 8 Alex de Minaur. Jannik Sinner returned to the court for the first time since winning the 6 Kings Slam in October. Following the contest, Sinner acknowledged the importance of refining his serve to ensure he has advanced further in the tournament.

Jannik Sinner began his campaign at the 2024 ATP Finals on a positive note, securing a victory over Alex de Minaur with a score of 6-3, 6-4 in Turin. After having to withdraw from the Paris Masters due to a virus, Sinner's return to the court was impressive, as he was able to control the match and win in straight sets.

Looking ahead, Sinner has at least two more matches to play in the ATP Finals, with Daniil Medvedev and Taylor Fritz next up in the Ilie Nastase Group.

The Tale of the Fixture 

De Minaur and Sinner began their match with a competitive exchange, each winning a game to start the opening set. However, world No. 8 gained an advantage by breaking De Minaur’s serve, taking a 2-1 lead. 

Sinner quickly responded by breaking back, demonstrating his resilience, and then went on to hold his serve, bringing the score to 3-2 in his favor. 

Builfavouron this momentum, Sinner broke De Minaur's serve once more and followed up by holding his serve, putting him one game away from securing the first set.

De Minaur showcased his determination by holding serve to stay competitive in the match, but ultimately, Sinner closed out the first set successfully. The second set began with both players exchanging points evenly until the match was temporarily halted at 2-2 due to a medical emergency in the crowd at the Inalpi Arena.

Upon the resumption of play, Sinner secured a hard-fought game to break De Minaur's serve and gain a 3-2 advantage. De Minaur displayed resilience as they continued to challenge each other, holding serve until it reached 5-4. Sinner asserted his dominance while clinching the consecutive set in style with a thunderous ace to seal the deal.

What Sinner had to say 

"Considering this [not playing in four weeks], I am very happy," he said. "I started off with some unforced errors, he was playing great at the beginning of the match. I just tried to stay there mentally, knowing that at some point my tennis would arrive, and it then arrived quite early.I started to return very well, but I will have to improve my serve for sure if I want to compete in the next match," Sinner said.

"Let's see, but today I am very pleased with the win and, hopefully, this can give me confidence for the next one." he added.