After almost a month out of action, Jannik Sinner was delighted to shake off his rustiness with a straight-sets win over Alex de Minaur at the ATP Finals. (More Tennis News)
Playing on home soil in Turin, the Italian reeled off a 6-3 6-4 victory over De Minaur in 85 minutes, making a winning start to his bid to escape the Ilie Nastase Group, also containing Taylor Fritz and Daniil Medvedev.
It was Sinner's first match since he won the Shanghai Masters on October 13, but he overcame some early nerves to showcase his impressive power from the baseline.
Asked about the impact of his long wait between matches, Sinner said: "Considering that, I'm very happy.
"I started off with some unforced errors. He was playing great in the beginning of the match, so I just tried to stay there mentally, knowing that hopefully at some point my tennis would arrive. It arrived quite early, and I started to return very well.
"My serve, for sure I have to improve if I want to win the next match. Against Taylor, today he played really well. Hopefully this can give me confidence for the next one."
Data Debrief: The man for the big stage
Sinner's victory over ninth-ranked De Minaur is his 13th against a top-10 player in ATP events this calendar year, having also done so in 2023.
He is just the fifth player aged 23 or under to reach that mark in back-to-back seasons since 1973, after legendary quartet Bjorn Borg (1977-79), Ivan Lendl (1980-82), Pete Sampras (1993-94) and Rafael Nadal (2008-09)
