Winning both the season’s hard-court Slams, Sinner comes to Turin as a clear favorite to take the title, but the top seed first had to get past an in-form De Minaur, who became the first Australian man to make it to the ATP Finals in 20 years (Lleyton Hewitt, 2004).
The Aussie made his Top 10 debut earlier this season and made three straight major quarterfinals, putting himself in contention for Turin with a run to the last eight at the Rolex Paris Masters.
But Sinner was a decidedly unlucky first opponent for De Minaur, who has never beaten the Italian in seven previous attempts—including on indoor hard courts in Rotterdam back in February.
Sinner indeed hit the ground running on Sunday following Taylor Fritz’s dominant win over Daniil Medvedev, recovering from an early break deficit to reel off five of the next six games to take the opening set. The second was slowed mainly by a delay due to a spectator needing medical attention; otherwise, Sinner remained completely in control.
Breaking De Minaur in that very game, Sinner converted match point with an ace, clinching decisive victory that put him up an early win in group play.
