Jannik Sinner gave the Turin crowd plenty to cheer about as he swept past Alex de Minaur in his ATP Finals opener.
Sinner overcame De Minaur 6-3, 6-4 to kickstart his campaign, having lost last year’s final to Novak Djokovic.
A rematch of that final is off the cards this time around, with Djokovic not playing at the ATP Finals due to injury.
De Minaur meanwhile is playing his first ATP Finals, with the Australian handed one of the toughest opening matches in tournament history.
Grigor Dimitrov’s coach Jamie Delgado says players must mix up the play against Sinner in order to try and overcome the Italian.
Photo by Nicolò Campo/LightRocket via Getty ImagesJannik Sinner shares his thoughts on the ATP Finals crowd in Turin
That is, of course, much easier said than done, with the world number one having just secured his seventh consecutive tour-level win.
And making him even stronger in Turin is the fact he is playing on home soil, with Sinner referencing the supporters when asked for his favourite thing about playing at home.
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“It has to be the crowd,” Sinner said after beating De Minaur, as quoted by the ATP website. “It has to be the energy. I love to play at home. It’s a huge honour, and I was just looking forward to it.
“Today was a great night. I didn’t play Rome [this year], so it was the first match [in 2024] in Italy. The welcome was very warm, very amazing. I can’t wait for the next one.”
Jasmine Paolini and Giorgio Chiellini watch Jannik Sinner ATP Finals opener
Sinner now boasts an 8-0 win-loss record over De Minaur, with the former also clinching his 66th tour-level win of the season.
That figure places him level with Alexander Zverev, who has avoided being drawn with Sinner in the group stages.
The German takes on Carlos Alcaraz, Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev in the John Newcombe Group in Turin.
Sinner has American Taylor Fritz next, with that encounter representing a rematch of the US Open final, which the Italian won.
YearCity2021-2025Turin2009-2020London2005-2008Shanghai2003-2004Houston2002Shanghai2001Sydney2000LisbonATP Finals host cities since 2000 (ATP Finals)
He should, therefore, be full of confidence ahead of his next match, with Sinner really thriving off the support at the Inalpi Arena.
Watching on from the stands for his 85-minute win over De Minaur were his fellow ATP players Flavio Cobolli and Lorenzo Sonego, WTA star Jasmine Paolini and Italian football legend Giorgio Chiellini.
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