Following his triumph at the China Open on Wednesday, Jannik Sinner had to win only one match at the Rolex Shanghai Masters to officially clinch his spot in the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals. Sinner did it by beating Marcos Giron 7-6(7), 6-2 during second-round action on Saturday.
The fourth-ranked Italian battled back from 6-3 down on the first-set tiebreaker, saving four set points in total–including one with a winner off the net cord at 5-6.
“I knew [I could qualify] before the match, so I wanted to accomplish this here,” Sinner said. “I’m very happy. It was our main goal this season, and I’m very happy I’m officially going to be in Turin in front of the home crowd there. It means a lot.”
Sinner’s first trip to Turin came in 2021, when he got in as an alternate following the withdrawal of compatriot Matteo Berrettini. In round-robin play he beat Hubert Hurkacz before losing to Daniil Medvedev in a third-set tiebreaker.
“Two years ago I had a chance to play there, a couple of matches, because of Matteo hurting himself,” Sinner reflected. “It was a tough moment for him. I just tried to play somehow the best tennis I had in that moment, but it is a little bit of a different feeling when you make it in the official eight. I’m very happy about this achievement and really looking forward to it.
“I started to watch the finals when they were played in London. I guess it was the famous four: Rafa [Nadal], Roger [Federer], Novak [Djokovic], Andy [Murray]. I also watched the (2017) final between Grigor [Dimitrov] and [David] Goffin. It’s a very exciting tournament.”
Sinner is 50-13 this season with three titles, including his first Masters 1000 triumph in Toronto. He joins Medvedev, Novak Djokovic, and Carlos Alcaraz in Turin.
nice one, Jannik