TURIN, Italy (AFP) — Jannik Sinner hit the accelerator at the end of each set as he cruised past Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4 to close in on a semifinal spot at the ATP Finals in Turin on Tuesday.
In September, Sinner had to overcome raucous home support to win his last meeting with the American as he claimed victory in the final of the US Open, also in straight sets.
This time, the Turin crowd was noisily behind the Italian.
“The crowd is helping me a lot,” Sinner said on the court.
The hard-hitting Fritz, ranked No. 5, put pressure on Sinner’s serve early in the first set. The American had the first break point of the match in the 14-minute seventh game but could not take his chance.
Sinner responded at once but wasted three break points in the next game before breaking to 15 in the 10th game to take the set.
“I was struggling to return his serve but I am happy with how I handled the situation,” Sinner said.
The second set also went with serve until the 10th game when Fritz double-faulted on Sinner’s first match point.
“It was a very tough match,” Sinner said.
“We got to know each other very well in a Grand Slam final, we knew exactly what to expect today. It was very aggressive as I was prepared for.”
Victory put Sinner top of the Ilie Nastase group with just Daniil Medvedev to face. The home favorite could still be eliminated with a straight-sets loss.
Fritz faces Alex de Minaur who has lost both his matches so far.
In the afternoon match, former champion Medvedev brushed aside Finals debutant De Minaur 6-2, 6-4 to bounce back from an opening defeat and boost his hopes of making the knockout phase.
The Russian, who lost his first group-stage match to Fritz, overpowered De Minaur to push his Australian opponent.
Medvedev, who lifted the title in 2020, did not face a single break point and broke De Minaur’s serve three times.
The fourth seed will next face Sinner on Thursday.
“I decided not to care about it in a good way,” Medvedev said.
“If I lose, the season is over, if I win I have another chance on Thursday. I’ll try to do the same the next match, so I don’t care.”
Both players battled to hold in their opening service games but Medvedev broke for a 2-1 lead and never looked back.