“Daniil, thank you for letting me win at least one match!”he joked Jannik Sinner in Daniel Medvedev at the trophy presentation after defeating the Russian in the ATP final on the hard court at Beijing, China)7-6 (2) and 7-6 (2).
The Italian had every reason to smile as he finally broke the jinx that followed him with Medvedev, which had brought him six defeats in their first six meetings, including two finals this season in Rotterdam and the Miami Masters 1,000.
“After six losses against him, I had to change some things and this time I did it. I feel ready for this fight. I have lost to him many times and you are great, especially when you beat a player you’ve never beaten before. It’s been a positive week. It means a lot to me, a lot of work behind it. I had to overcome some tough challenges and I’m proud of myself, how I faced the situations. It has been incredible,” said Sinner, 22 years old.
The victory over Medvedev, winner of five titles this year and leader in wins on hard courts (42), was the culmination of a tournament that cemented Jannik as one of tennis players with the most current and, more in all, the most forward in the next scenario of an ATP circuit without ‘Big Three’. Novak Djokovic He is still in top form, he is the No. 1 and champion of three Grand Slams this year, but he is 36 years old and a replacement, sooner or later, is inevitable.
Carlos Alcaraz, with two ‘greats’ at 20 years old, the standard bearer of the new generation, but the Sinner confirmed in Beijing that he is ready to fight the Spaniard: he surpassed and even lost hope to the Murcian in the semifinals (7-6) . , 6-1 ) and he now has the balance against him in his favor (4-3), those kinds of details that always leave a mark for future confrontations. A few months ago, Alcaraz himself pointed to the Italian as a great rival in the coming years.
In his third title of 2023 (Montpellier, Toronto, Beijing) and ninth overall, Sinner rose three places and became the second Italian in history to enter the top-5 in the world, in fact equaling the best ranking of a compatriot, Adriano Panatta4th in 1976.
Source: La Verdad
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