Jannik Sinner was left out of the Carlos Alcaraz-Novak Djokovic midsummer party at Wimbledon and the Paris Olympics, but the world No. 1 cemented his status as the top dog heading into the U.S. Open by winning the Western & Southern Open on Monday night.
Sinner lifted the Cincinnati trophy for the first time after beating Frances Tiafoe 7-6(4), 6-2 in one hour and 36 minutes. The Italian struck 13 aces compared to just two double-faults and held all 10 of his service games while saving three break points along the way.
Although the final was mostly straightforward, it was a taxing week for Sinner. He continued to be less than 100 percent because of a lingering hip issue and was especially plagued by it during Sunday’s semifinal against Alexander Zverev, but he battled to victory in a third-set tiebreaker.
Sinner looked better on Monday, which allowed him to be dominant in the second set following a tight opener.
“It was a very difficult week; tough week,” the 22-year-old reflected. “I’m very happy about about today’s match. It was very tough mentally. (I) had such an amazing run here and I tried to do my best today. We both were quite tired from yesterday. We both felt a lot of tension, but I’m very glad about [the] level I played today, especially in the important moments.”
Tiafoe also won his semifinal in a third-set ‘breaker, fighting off two match points to defeat Holger Rune.
It was the 27th-ranked American’s first-ever appearance in a Masters 1000 final.
Sinner’s Cincinnati result guarantees that he will be No. 1 in the world through the U.S. Open, regardless of what happens in New York. Djokovic, the gold medalist at the Olympics, will be the second seed at the season’s last Grand Slam. Alcaraz, who triumphed at both the French Open (d. Alexander Zverev) and Wimbledon (d. Djokovic), is No. 3.
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nice one, Jannik