Italian world No. 1 Jannik Sinner concluded his impressive 2024 season on the ATP circuit by winning the ATP Finals for the first time in his career against American Taylor Fritz, beaten 6-4, 6-4, on Sunday in Turin.
Sinner, 23, added an eighteenth title to his record, an eighth this year after notably the Australian Open, the United States Open and three Masters 1000 (Miami, Cincinnati, Shanghai).
This title, just one year after his defeat in the final against the Serbian Novak Djokovic, allows him to correct an anomaly in his record: he had never won an ATP title in front of his audience in Italy.
Pushed by the excited spectators at the Inalpi Arena, Sinner finished the week of the “masters tournament” with five victories in as many matches, without losing a single set, which earned him an increased bonus of 4.9 million US dollars.
Becoming the first Italian world No. 1 in the ATP rankings in June, Sinner still has one final challenge to take on: retaining the Davis Cup won with Italy in 2023, starting Tuesday in Malaga (Spain).
Winner the day before in the semi-final of world No. 2 Alexander Zverev, Fritz, 27, was not unworthy, but the relentless hitting machine Sinner suffocated him. The American held out for six games, before giving up his serve for the first time on a winning drop shot from Sinner, also very effective on his opponent’s second service balls.
Under constant pressure from Sinner, the American broke even earlier in the second set in a fifth game that he had started well to lead 30-0, before a double fault, a drop shot in the net and three winning shots from Italian.
Sinner concluded his final on his first match point to become the first Italian to win the “masters tournament”.
Already beaten by Sinner in the final of the last United States Open (6-3, 6-4, 7-5) and in the group stage of the ATP Finals (6-4, 6-4), Fritz hoped to offer the most prestigious title of his career and end the wait for the United States, which has not won this end-of-season tournament for 25 years with Pete Sampras in 1999.
He will console himself by climbing one place on Monday in the ATP rankings to finish the best season of his career at 4th place in the world.
Sinner’s 2024 in figures:
0 : the number of Italians to have held the world No. 1 position since the creation of the ATP ranking in 1973, until Sinner took power on June 10, 2024.
3 : the surfaces where it has established itself in 2024, indoor cement, outdoor cement and grass. The only thing that still resists him is clay: of the eighteen titles on his list, he has won only one on this surface, in Umag (Croatia) in 2022.
8 : the titles won in 2024, with two Grand Slam coronations (Australian Open, United States Open), the ATP Finals in Turin, three Masters 1000s (Miami, Cincinnati, Shanghai) and two ATP 500s ( Rotterdam, Halle).
16 : the consecutive victories during his perfect start to the season which saw him win the Australian Open and the Rotterdam tournament, before falling in the semi-finals at Indian Wells. Series reissued between August and September with these titles in Cincinnati and at the United States Open, before his defeat in the final in Beijing.
48 : the number of years between the last victory of an Italian in a Grand Slam tournament (Adriano Panatta in 1976 at Roland-Garros) and his coronation in Melbourne.
70 : his victories on the circuit in 2024, for six defeats.
3 015 : his lead in points in the ATP ranking over his runner-up, the German Alexander Zverev (7,315 pts, compared to 10,330 for Sinner).
17 millions : his winnings in dollars in 2024 on the ATP circuit, not counting the six million received for his victory in the “Six Kings Slam” exhibition tournament in Saudi Arabia. Since his professional debut, the big redhead has pocketed more than $34 million in bonuses. To these bonuses, we must add nearly $15 million in advertising revenue and other partnerships for 2024, according to the business magazine Forbes.
