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Jannik Sinner did his job. Carlos Alcaraz now has to win one more match and set up another important final against his main rival.
Sinner beat Alex de Minaur 7-5, 6-2 on Saturday to improve to 13-0 against the Australian and advance to the ATP Finals championship match ahead of his home fans.
Second-ranked Sinner is aiming to retain his title in the season-ending tournament among the top eight players of the year. Sinner will face either Alcaraz or Felix Auger-Aliassime in Sunday's final.
Alcaraz has already finished top of the year-end rankings but is aiming to reach his first final at the event.
Sinner and Alcaraz have met in the last three Grand Slam finals. Alcaraz beat Sinner in a fifth-set tiebreaker to win the French Open; Sinner got his revenge by defeating Alcaraz for the Wimbledon trophy; Alcaraz then came out on top again at the US Open.
Sinner also won the Australian Open, beating Alexander Zverev in the final, so he and Alcaraz each won two majors this year.
This is the third final in a row in Turin for Sinner, who has not dropped a set in a final since losing to Novak Djokovic in the 2023 championship match – a streak of 18 straight sets.
Sinner saved three break points in his first service game after falling behind 0–40, and then finally managed to break De Minaur to take a 6–5 lead going into serve for the set.
The second set was never in doubt as Sinner raced into a 4-0 lead.
“I was pleased with how I served and how I responded in important moments,” Sinner said.
Sinner extended his winning streak on indoor hard courts to 31 matches, dating back to the 2023 final against Djokovic. He didn't reset his serve this week.
