ATP Finals: Sinner completes sensational year with Turin triumph

Jannik Sinner claimed his maiden ATP Finals title as the all-conquering world number one capped off a sensational season in style.

Sinner defeated Taylor Fritz 6-4 6-4 in Turin on Sunday, claiming his eighth title of 2024 in the process.

It was a rematch of this year's US Open final, which Sinner also won, and the Italian made home advantage count in another dominant show of force befitting of his place at the top of the ATP rankings.

Fritz, the first American to reach the final of the ATP Finals and the US Open in the same season since Andre Agassi in 1999, managed to force only one break point, and even that was clawed back by Sinner at the end of the first set.

And Sinner's performance on serve was ultimately just too strong for Fritz, who was on the end of a wonderful drop-shot in the final game as his opponent delighted the crowd.

A cross-court forehand went long from Fritz on the next point to decide the match, and complete Sinner's supreme season.

THE UNDEFEATED ITALIAN KING In front of his adoring public, World No. 1 @janniksin becomes the first Italian to capture the Nitto ATP Finals title, defeating Fritz 6-4 6-4!!!#NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/fObgL0n4U9

— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 17, 2024

Data Debrief: King of the hill

Sinner is the seventh player in the Open Era to win the ATP Finals on home soil, and the first since Andy Murray in 2016, as he collected his Tour-leading 70th win of the season. He is the first Italian champion of this competition.

The 23-year-old has also joined Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as the only men to win the Australian Open, US Open and ATP Finals in the same year.

Having fallen at the final hurdle against Djokovic last season, Sinner was in no mood for a repeat of that heartbreak. Indeed, he went through the entirety of this year's tournament without dropping a single set, making him the first player to win the ATP Finals without giving up a set since Ivan Lendl in 1986.

Since the start of August, Sinner has won three of the four tournaments he has competed in, with his sole defeat coming to Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the China Open.

While 2024 will go down as Sinner's year, Fritz can at least take solace in a fine season of his own, and he will head into 2025 as the world number four.