TURIN: Alex de Minaur kept alive his chances of reaching the last four of the ATP Finals on Thursday after beating Taylor Fritz in straight sets 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 in Turin.
Australia’s De Minaur had to win in straight sets in order to have any chance of making it out of the Jimmy Connors Group, and he now needs Carlos Alcaraz to beat Lorenzo Musetti later on Thursday in order to book his place in the semifinals.
Should Alcaraz beat local hero Musetti, as he is widely expected to, seventh seed De Minaur will take second place in the group.
Hard court specialist De Minaur won his 43rd match of the season on the surface, the most on the men’s tour, and was too much for Fritz once he prevailed in the first set tie-break.
Defeat for Fritz, in one hour and 35 minutes, ended the American’s participation in this year’s edition of the prestigious end-of-season tournament.
Alcaraz is now guaranteed a spot in the semifinals but still needs to beat Musetti to both secure first place in the group and claim the year-end number one ranking for the second time.
If Musetti beats Alcaraz and joins Jannik Sinner in the next round, it will be the first time two Italians have reached the semis in the history of the tournament.
Defending champion Jannik Sinner sealed his place in the last four of the ATP Finals after beating Alexander Zverev for the third time in 17 days.
The 24-year-old Italian delivered a high-quality performance en route to a 6-4, 6-3 victory. Sinner holds a 2-0 record in the Bjorn Borg group and is yet to play Ben Shelton before competing in the semi-finals.
Sinner earned his fifth consecutive win against the German and improved to 6-4 in their ATP Head-to-Head rivalry. Zverev’s last win against Sinner came at the 2023 US Open.
“I felt like I was serving very well in important moments. I tried to play the best tennis possible when it mattered, which fortunately went my way,” said Sinner.
We both changed a little bit tactically, so I felt like we both were trying to hit quite fast, quite flat. But I’m very happy with how I returned his serve. It’s very difficult. One of the best serves in the game. The group I’m in, with Sascha and Ben, it’s very difficult to return their serves,” he added.
Sinner beat Zverev in this year’s Australian Open final and more recently in a three-set Vienna championship match, followed by a 6-0, 6-1 win in the semi-finals of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Paris, ATP reports.
Still alive in the chase for ATP Year-End No. 1, Sinner must win the title this week as an undefeated champion and hope that Alcaraz does not record another victory.
Alcaraz, already safely into the semi-finals, faces Sinner’s countryman Lorenzo Musetti on Thursday.
Sinner is on a 28-match winning streak on indoor hard courts since falling to Novak Djokovic in the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals championship match. Since then, Sinner has not dropped a set in Turin. Last year he became the first man to win the event without losing a set since 1986 (Ivan Lendl), as per ATP stats. Agencies
Also Read: Billie Jean King Cup: Netherlands, Slovenia, India set to fight for top spot