Looking to extend his magnificent winning streak against Alex de Minaur, world number one Jannik Sinner begins his bid for ATP World Tour Finals glory against the Australian on Sunday evening in Turin.
The home favourite came agonisingly close to glory last year before falling to Novak Djokovic's supremacy, while his seventh-seeded foe is making his long-awaited debut at the year-end championships.
Match preview
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A 2024 season filled with triumph and turbulence comes to a close for Sinner in front of the home crowd, as the year-end world number one endeavours to prolong his hard-court dominance after taking home the Australian Open and US Open titles earlier this year.
Including his pair of major successes, the Italian trailblazer has clinched a phenomenal seven top-level titles in the 2024 campaign, also conquering the Masters tournaments in Shanghai, Cincinnati and Miami, as well as winning the Rotterdam and Halle competitions.
Sinner's only on-court blemish as far as finals go was his enthralling China Open loss to Carlos Alcaraz last month, but the 23-year-old's exceptional season has been overshadowed by the summer's doping scandal, where he tested positive for the banned substance clostebol.
The Italian has controversially faced no suspension for his misdemeanour - it has been accepted that a physio used a spray containing clostebol to treat a wound on his hand before using said hand to massage Sinner - although the World Anti-Doping Agency is seeking a lengthy ban for the world number one.
As debate continues to rage about the 23-year-old's off-court scandal, he can do no more than focus on his run to glory in Turin, where Sunday's opener will be his first match since out-witting Djokovic in the Shanghai showpiece; an illness forced him to withdraw from the Paris Masters.
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The two-time major winner's astounding 65-6 win-loss rate for 2024 is far superior to De Minaur's 47-16, but his Australian foe - unfancied as he may be - ought to enjoy the moment if nothing else on Sunday as he gears up for his ATP Finals debut.
Breaking into the world's top 10 for the first time in the 2024 season, De Minaur enjoyed by far his finest run at the Grand Slams - reaching three straight quarter-finals in Roland-Garros, SW19 and New York - in addition to winning the Mexican Open and Rosmalen Grass Court Championships.
De Minaur's participation brings an end to a 20-year wait for another Australian man in the singles competition - Lleyton Hewitt was the most recent to make the year-end championships in 2024 - and the world number eight is the only competitor earning his ATP Finals baptism at the 2024 tournament.
De Minaur has not been able to build up a head of steam since exiting the US Open quarter-finals, though; he lost to Hugo Gaston in the Antwerp quarters, was comfortably beaten by Karen Khachanov in the Vienna semis and fell to Holger Rune in the last eight in Paris.
Surprises can certainly be sprung at the ATP Finals, but the early indications are that the 25-year-old is facing an uphill climb to pip any of Sinner, Daniil Medvedev - the 2020 champion - or Taylor Fritz to the top two places in the Ilie Nastase Group.
Head To Head
Rotterdam Open (2024) - Final: Sinner wins 7-5 6-4
Davis Cup Finals (2023) - Final: Sinner wins 6-3 6-0
National Bank Open (2023) - Final: Sinner wins 6-4 6-1
Madrid Open (2022) - Second round: Sinner wins 6-4 6-1
Australian Open (2022) - Fourth round: Sinner wins 7-6[3] 6-3 6-4
Sofia Open (2022) - Quarter-final: Sinner wins 6-7[3] 6-4 6-1
Next Gen ATP Finals (2019) - Final: Sinner wins 4-2 4-1 4-2
Any De Minaur fans perusing our preview may wish to skip this section, as Sinner boasts a perfect 7-0 record from his previous clashes with the Australian on the ATP Tour, including their first-ever meeting in the final of the 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals.
The Italian's dominance against De Minaur has not let up since, and he has now strung together a sequence of four successive straight-sets wins over the 25-year-old, including in this year's Rotterdam Open championship match and the final of the 2023 Davis Cup.
De Minaur's only 'victory' as such over the world number one was a walkover win at the 2023 Paris Masters, one that was clouded in controversy as Sinner withdrew 90 minutes before their 5pm battle after not finishing up his previous match until nearly 3am that same morning.
We say: Sinner to win in two sets
Just one look at Sinner's head-to-head dominance over De Minaur suggests that Sunday's battle will not be much of a contest whatsoever, even if the Australian has had more match practice in recent weeks.
The world number one's extended break ought to have done him the world of good, though, and we fully expect Sinner to storm to an eighth straight win against De Minaur to begin his quest for the year-end crown on the right foot.
Ben Knapton
