Jannik Sinner comfortably beat Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-5, 6-1 in his opening match at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin to top the Bjorn Borg group and extend his indoor match wins to 27 unbeaten.
The Italian raced through his service games with relative ease and faced no break points while creating ten on his opponent’s serve, and also hit sixteen winners to the delight of the home fans, some of whom had paid big money to see their superstar in full flow.
And they were treated to a high class first set full of quality and excitement as both players held serve, though Auger-Aliassime faced huge pressure in a long deuce game at 2-3 down. He fought through and when he saved a set point at 4-5 down, the set appeared to be heading towards the tie-break.
The Canadian, who recently pulled out of the quarter-finals in Basel with a left knee problem, suffered what appeared to be a left calf strain at 5-6 down and conceded the break and the set. It was an unfortunate end to a fiercely fought and even first hour on the court. He later called for the physio more than once.
“Until the 6-5 game I had some chances to break,” said Sinner afterwards. “I missed a return but it can happen, and he played some very aggressive tennis. Overall, I’m happy that I overcome a very tough test today. Obviously, winning your first match is very important in this competition in this format, so I’m very happy.”
The World number one is closing in on multiple indoor winning streaks held by tennis legends Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Ivan Lendl, and showed no mercy to his injured opponent by throwing in surprise drop shots during baseline rallies and moving him around side to side constantly. The second set though, was a mere formality.
Sinner was very diplomatic when asked about facing an injured opponent: “You still have to be very consistent with a balance on the court, and especially mentally, because, it is a bit different. But at the same time, it is also an advantage. He’s a huge server, so you have to be very careful, but as I said, it’s not nice, especially Felix, he has had some very tough injuries. I wish him a very speedy recovery and then we all hope that he’s gets back to 100% physically. I hope that it’s nothing too serious. So, we only wish him only the best.”
When asked how he felt playing on front of his home crowd, Sinner answered “obviously it’s very special. It’s one of the most special places I can play tennis, a great atmosphere. Walking out – it is very loud. So, it’s a great feeling. I cannot compare this to any other feeling because it’s only the best players here.”
Sinner has now won nine of the last ten sets the pair have played and is also 11-0 on indoor hard court wins during 2025.
