World number one Jannik Sinner beat Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4 in the ATP Finals on November 17.
Sinner capped off a successful ATP Tour season with his eighth individual title. He became the first Italian player to win the ATP Finals, the prestigious event for the top eight players of the year in its 55-year history. He won all 10 sets in the tournament to win the title for the first time on his home turf in Italy.
For the first time in 38 years, a player has won all sets at the ATP Finals. In the final, Sinner did not lose a single serve game and won two service games in each set. Fritz played well, but against a very strong opponent, the American could not avoid defeat 4-6, 4-6 – the same score as his loss to Sinner in the group stage.
Sinner had 10 aces in 21 first serves in the first set. The world number one did not allow his opponent to have any forehand winners in the set. Fritz played better in the second set, but still lost a service game and lost.
Sinner has won 70 matches this season, becoming only the third man in history to win the Australian Open, US Open and ATP Finals in the same year, after Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. “It’s special,” Sinner said after the match. “I studied every opponent in the tournament and played the best tennis I could.”
Fritz has risen to world number four, according to the ATP rankings updated this week. He admits he has yet to find a way to beat Sinner, the world’s current best. “He played fantastically,” Fritz said of his junior. “Today, he not only played well at the baseline, but also served well. Even when he served second, I couldn’t attack.”
Fritz has lost all 11 of his meetings with world number one players. He and Sinner will end their season at next week’s Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, Spain – where the legendary Rafael Nadal retired from tennis.