"Jannik Sinner is going to be very hard to beat" - Serena Williams' ex-coach hails Italian & his team after he reaches ATP Finals final
Jannik Sinner is continuing his excellent form at the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy, as he became the first man Italian player to enter the title contest.
Sinner faced off against Daniil Medvedev in the semifinal at the year-end championship on November 18. A solitary break of the Russian's serve in the first set handed Sinner the lead.
The two men fought a close second set, which Medvedev eked out in a tiebreaker. In front of a raucous crowd at Pala Alpitour, the home favorite broke Medvedev twice in the third set to book his place in the prestigious final with a score of 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-1.
Jannik Sinner has used his powerful groundstroke and baseline game style to perfection this week and has remained undefeated so far in Turin. He topped the Green Group after defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas, Novak Djokovic, and Holger Rune.
Following that, Rennae Stubbs, a former coach to 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, praised Sinner for his flawless performance against Medvedev. Stubbs believes that the 22-year-old will be very hard to beat in the final. She also congratulated Sinner's coach, Darren Cahill, and the supporting team for their hard work.
"Me still thinks @janniksin is going to be very hard to beat this week! Wow what a match he played again today! @darren_cahill and crew," Stubbs posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Jannik Sinner to face either Novak Djokovic or Carlos Alcaraz in the ATP Finals final
While Jannik Sinner has entered the final at the ATP Finals, who he will play in the title contest remains to be seen. He will be up against either No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic or No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz. If recent form is anything to go by, Sinner will be the favorite against both men.
The Italian ended Djokovic's 19-match winning streak during their group stage clash at the ATP Finals, who was undefeated since the Cincinnati Masters. However, in the head-to-head record, Djokovic leads 3-1.
Meanwhile, Sinner has won four out of the seven contests against Carlos Alcaraz, last beating him in the semifinal of the China Open, 7-6(4), 6-1, in October. The two young stars also played each other during this year's Sunshine Double. Alcaraz bettered Sinner in the semifinal of the Indian Wells Masters while the Italian avenged the loss in the semifinal at Miami.