TURIN, Italy — Jannik Sinner has done his part. Now Carlos Alcaraz needs to win one more fight and set up another important final against his biggest rival.
Sinner defeated Alex De Minaur 7-5, 6-2 on Saturday to improve to 13-0 against the Australian and advance to the ATP Finals Championship in front of his home fans.
Sinner, ranked second, aims to defend his title in the annual Elite Eight tournament at the end of the season. Sinner will face Alcaraz or Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime in Sunday’s final.
Alcaraz already holds the year-end No. 1 ranking, but is looking to reach his first finals appearance in the event.
Sinner and Alcaraz have played each other in the past three Grand Slam finals: Alcaraz defeated Sinner in a fifth-set tiebreaker to win the French Open; Sinner got a degree of revenge by defeating Alcaraz to win the Wimbledon trophy. Alcaraz then won again at the U.S. Open.
Sinner also won the Australian Open – beating Alexander Zverev in the final – so he and Alcaraz have won two majors each this year.
This is Sinner’s third consecutive final in Turin, having not dropped a set in 18 consecutive finals since being defeated by Novak Djokovic in the 2023 championship.
Sinner saved three break points after falling behind 0-40 in the first service game, and finally succeeded in breaking De Minaur to lead 6-5 in the service game.
There was never really a problem in the second set, with Sinner leading 4-0.
“I was happy with the way I served and how I reacted in the big moments,” Sinner said.
Sinner extended his winning streak on indoor hard courts to 31 matches – which also dates back to the 2023 final against Djokovic. He has yet to lose serve this week.
