Jannik Sinner is into the final of the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time in his career after a 6-3 6-7(4) 6-1 victory over Daniil Medvedev.
The Italian produced a dominant final set to be one win away from the biggest title of his career.
Sinner will play Carlos Alcaraz or Novak Djokovic for the title on Sunday in a mouth-watering final.
Early signs showed that this was going to be a highly competitive contest as Medvedev produced some high quality shot-making from the baseline.
Medvedev’s attacking intent in the opening few games was rewarded in the third game as he created a break point opportunity.
However that’s when Sinner raised his game as he has done all week as he produced big serves and finished points efficiently with his forehand.
The patience from the baseline mixed with producing a variety of depths and paces from the baseline was rewarded in the following game as the Italian converted his first break point to take a 3-1 lead.
Sinner proved deadly on serve as he never gave the former champion a chance to set the tempo of the match on return.
There was good aggression from Medvedev after going 4-1 down but the point construction from the world number three left a lot to be desired as Sinner continued to pick him off at the net.
A convincing final game was produced from the Italian as an unreturnable first serve sealed the opening set 6-3 in 46 minutes.
There needed to be a response from Medvedev in the second set in order to turn the match around the former US Open champion started to dictate play a lot more from the baseline as he suffocated the attack of Sinner.
The rallies became longer as Medvedev started to have more joy on return but Sinner wasn’t phased by the challenge as he continued to remain patient throughout the match.
Both players continued to find ways of being efficient on serve as the second set grew with tension as Medvedev was clearly the player who was more aggressive in longer rallies.
Medvedev’s forehand became more vicious and proactive in the second set as he looked to deal the killer blow in the second as he created a break point eighth game.
Once again Sinner went toe-to-toe with Medvedev’s game and came out on top as he remained firm as he held for 4-4 and threatened with the vital blow in the next game.
However Medvedev continued to hold firm as the third seed’s aggression was rewarded with a second set tiebreak as both players produced a high quality set of tennis.
Medvedev was the slightly better and more efficient player in the second set with evidence of that being a dominant tiebreak which he claimed 7-4 to level the match at one set all.
After an impressive set of tennis, Medvedev went off for a medical-time out and as he returned was greeted with jeers.
Medvedev and the crowd had several arguments during a deciding set that was dominated by the Italian for the most part.
Sinner was the more aggressive and creative player as the Italian continued to dominate the tempo through his forehand as he took a 3-0 lead.
The former champion did his best to suffocate Sinner’s attacking quality but ultimately the Italian was always one step ahead as another blistering groundstroke found its mark to secure a 5-1 lead.
A barrage of backhands from Sinner secured an incredible victory as he moved into the final of the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time in his career.
After the match Sinner described his emotions after reaching the final in Turin, “It’s an incredible feeling,” Sinner explained in his post-match interview.
“Today was a really tough match. I felt like he was playing more aggressively, especially during the first set. But somehow I managed to break and from that point, I felt a little bit better. the second set was really tight and he played a very good tiebreak. then in the third, I just tried to be a little bit more aggressive and mixed up my game a little. I am happy to be in the final.”
One away from the biggest title of his career, Sinner will now face either Novak Djokovic or Carlos Alcaraz for the title on Sunday.
