ROTTERDAM, Netherlands – Jannik Sinner is on cloud nine. Three weeks after winning his first Grand Slam title in Melbourne, the Italian added the ATP-500 in Rotterdam to his list of achievements, winning against the Australian Alex de Minaur (11th) in the final on Sunday.
Seeded number 1, the player from Trentino won 7-5, 6-4, which on Monday will allow him to occupy 3rd place in the world rankings (behind Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz), thus becoming the Italian highest ranked in ATP history.
Undefeated in 2024, Sinner, 22, had reason to be confident before the final. Never in six confrontations had he been beaten by de Minaur (seeded no. 5).
“It’s very difficult to play against you. It’s better when we’re in the same camp in doubles,” Sinner joked after the final, the fourth against each other.
With this success, Sinner has just won its last 15 matches. Rotterdam is also his third consecutive ATP-500 title after his victories in Beijing and Vienna at the end of 2023.
Alex de Minaur will console himself by being assured of entering the top-10 of the ATP rankings, in 9th place, the best position of his career.
But the Australian, despite taking many risks and serving efficiently, was too short compared to a player at the top of his game.
The Italian made the break in the middle of the first set (at 3-2), and he did not let go of his prey, lining up the winning passing shots.
In the second set, where both players were more feverish in serving, De Minaur still resisted (3-3) before Sinner ended up making the difference in just over two hours of play.
Superior in the game, Sinner was also physically superior. Shortly before the final, at the start of the afternoon, he had trained for almost two hours, AFP noted. Nothing to visibly tire him out.
“In recent days, I have put a lot of intensity into my training,” he explained on Saturday after his victorious semi-final against the Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor.
The Italian prodigy adds his name to the list of winners of this event, alongside legends like Arthur Ashe, Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, Stefan Edberg and Roger Federer… He succeeds the Russian Daniil Medvedev, finalist in Melbourne at the end of January, but who was unable to defend his title in Rotterdam due to foot pain.
He is also the first Italian to win on the flat country since the success of Omar Camporese, winner of Ivan Lendl in 1991.
2024-02-18 16:57:10
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