Jannik Sinner is the 2024 Nitto ATP finals champion after comfortably defeating Taylor Fritz 6-4 6-4 in Sunday’s final, becoming the first player from his country to win the tournament in its 55-year history.
The Italian emerges as the undefeated champion (without even dropping a set) and wins $4,881,100 in prize money, making it a successful last few months for the bank balance after the $6 million he won at the Six Kings Slam.
Sinner was dominant throughout, playing his brand of precision tennis and winning 83% of points behind his first serve, which left Fritz with no real chance to find a chink in his armour.
Fritz is the first Yank since James Blake back in 2006 to make the finals, and while he leaves Turin disappointed, he’s the top American right now and has had one of his best seasons on tour. As a result, he will rise to a career-high No. 4 in the ATP Rankings on Monday.
It’s amazing, it’s my first title in Italy and it means so much to me. It’s something very special. I just tried to understand what works best for each opponent, trying to play my best possible tennis. That was the key. It was a very high level tournament from my side. At times, I couldn’t have played better, so I am very happy. Sinner on his maiden ATP Finals win.
2024 ATP Finals Result
| Winner | Loser | Scoreline |
|---|---|---|
| Jannik Sinner (1) | Taylor Fritz (5) | 6-4 6-4 |
Match Stats
| Jannik Sinner | Taylor Fritz | |
|---|---|---|
| Aces | 14 | 8 |
| Double Faults | 0 | 2 |
| 1st Serve Percentage | 71% | 75% |
| 1st Serve Points Won | 83% (33/40) | 70% (32/46) |
| 2nd Serve Points Won | 63% (10/16) | 60% (9/15) |
| Break Points Saved | 100% (1/1) | 67% (4/6) |
| 1st Return Points Won | 30% (14/46) | 18% (7/40) |
| 2nd Return Points Won | 40% (6/15) | 38% (6/16) |
| Break Points Converted | 33% (2/6) | 0% (0/1) |
| Winners | 28 | 20 |
| Unforced Errors | 17 | 21 |
| Net Points Won | 67% (8/12) | 75% (9/12) |
| Service Points Won | 77% (43/56) | 67% (41/61) |
| Return Points Won | 33% (20/61) | 23% (13/56) |
| Total Points Won | 54% (63/117) | 46% (54/117) |
| Service Games Won | 100% (10/10) | 80% (8/10) |
| Return Games Won | 20% (2/10) | 0% (0/10) |
| Total Games Won | 60% (12/20) | 40% (8/20) |
Highlights
Thoughts on the Final
It was an expected win for Sinner here, but I thought Fritz played decently enough – landing 70% of first serves, winning 70% behind it and 60% behind his second serve.
You don’t lose too many matches with numbers like that, but Sinner is just too solid and disciplined to be troubled by what Fritz can offer.
With his relentless ball-striking, the Italian always draws his opponent into making untimely errors, and that’s what happened in the final; he broke in the seventh game of the first set and the fifth game of the second. The only real trouble he faced was saving a sole break point when serving out the opener.
There’s little Fritz can do to make him uncomfortable, so I can’t see how he can get on top from the baseline.
Even when Sinner is in a more defensive position, he can maintain the type of ball speed typically restricted to when you can plant your feet.
Fritz can at least find some positives in playing much better than the US Open final, in which he served poorly.
Tonight, his numbers were solid. He just ran into a player who’s exceptionally hard to beat on hard courts right now, and there’s likely only Djokovic and Alcaraz who can do it.
As for Sinner, he finishes the season with eight titles, including 2 Grand Slams and a 92.1% win rate (70-6 wins/losses).
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🇦🇺 Australian Open 🏆
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🇳🇱 Rotterdam 🏆
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🇺🇸 Miami 🏆
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🇩🇪 Halle 🏆
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🇺🇸 Cincinnati 🏆
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🇺🇸 US Open 🏆
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🇨🇳 Shanghai 🏆
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🇮🇹 ATP Finals🏆
So, while it was an excellent year for him in terms of titles and money earned, it would be amiss not to mention the two failed doping tests.
Whatever anyone says, e.g. people like Angelo Binaghi, President of the Italian Tennis Federation, who claims, “Apart from a few imbeciles, people worldwide understand what happened. There’s no doubt that Sinner is one of the cleanest and most honest athletes in world sport.” there are some significant question marks around the case that need answering.
WADA thinks so, too, and it doesn’t help when people like Binaghi call anyone asking questions an imbecile.
Remember, you don’t have to go too far back to when those in positions of “authority” branded people imbeciles for talking about a lab leak.
We all know how that one turned out, and I’d imagine there are plenty of internal emails that would shed some light on this whole debacle. Hopefully, we get to learn more.
Did you enjoy the 2024 ATP Finals? Let me know in the comments.