Jannik Sinner and Taylor Fritz will be trying to take control of Group Ilie Nastase at the Nitto ATP Finals when they meet on Tuesday night in Turin, Italy.
It is a rematch of the recent U.S. Open final, which was dominated by Sinner 6-3, 6-4, 7-5. That gave the world No. 1 a 2-1 advantage in the head-to-head series. He also prevailed via a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 decision at the 2023 Indian Wells Masters after Fritz won their first encounter 6-4, 6-3 two years earlier in the desert.
Sinner went into Turin as the title favorite and is now an even bigger one after he cruised through his opening match against Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-4 and Carlos Alcaraz lost his to Casper Ruud in straight sets. The top-ranked Italian is looking good in front of the home crowd–just as he did last fall, when he upset Novak Djokovic in the group stage and eventually reached the final (lost to Djokovic).
Also 1-0 so far in the round-robin, Fritz defeated Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday. Still, he has been up and down since his career-best performance at the U.S. Open. The fifth-ranked American made a run to the Shanghai semifinals, but he exited his other two fall-swing events with immediate losses–to Arthur Fils in Tokyo and to Jack Draper in Paris.
Fritz is playing well, but probably not well enough to get the best of Sinner–not in Italy, at least. If the surface was incredibly fast, the 27-year-old would have at least some chance of just bombing serves and taking the racket out of Sinner’s hands. However, the court is reportedly playing slower than it was in 2023.
All things considered, Sinner should be well on his way to the semifinals…and beyond.
Pick: Sinner in 2
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Fritz knows if he doesn’t beat Sinner soon, he may never beat him again.