It will be the proverbial dead rubber at the Nitto ATP Finals when Jannik Dinner and Ben Sherton square off on Friday afternoon in Turin. Sinner has already made it to the semifinals and earned Group B Bjorn Borg with a 2-0 record, while Shelton finished 0-2.
This marks the ninth meeting between Sona and Sherton, with the Italian leading their head-to-head series 7-1. He has won seven in a row at the American since losing their first meeting at the 2023 Shanghai Masters. Sinner has reeled off an incredible 17 sets in a row, winning all seven of them in straight sets.
There is no reason to think that anything will change on Friday. Shelton did his job at the end of the year competition and – somehow he didn’t do it well. The fifth-ranked American did not arrive in Turin in great shape, as his 2025 push was halted by a shoulder injury at the US open. He scored just three tries during the fall to go on a six-game losing streak, including a comeback against Alexander Zverback on Sunday followed by a 4-6, 7-5 (7), 7-5 heartbreaker against Felix Auger
Son has brought the nitto atp finals a seven-game winning streak by beating auger-aliassime 7-5, 6-1 and zveva 6-4, 6-3. World 2 was the undisputed champion 12 months ago, when he didn’t drop a set in five matches and didn’t miss a single Timebreaker. Sinner is now 12-2 lifetime in Turin, including a runner-up performance in 2023 (lost to Novak Djokovic).
Although the sinner can tolerate a few lapses in torture given that there is not much at stake in this game, he still wants to win. And he certainly will, as the crowd favorites try to carry the momentum into the semifinals.
Select: sin 2
