Two months after a one-sided duel in New York, Jannik Sinner, the first Italian to win the US Open, and Taylor Fritz meet again on Sunday in Turin for an ATP Masters final that could mark their careers. In his third appearance at the “tournament of the masters which brings together the eight best players of the year, Sinner, 23, has so far achieved a perfect record.

After dominating his group with three wins, including one over Fritz (6-4, 6-4)without conceding a single set, the tall red-haired player taught Casper Ruud a lesson. 6-1, 6-2in the semi-finals on Saturday.

The Norwegian, ranked 7th in the world, never troubled the Italian, driven on by an overexcited Inalpi Arena dreaming of seeing him win his eighth title of the year, the 18th of his career and, more importantly, the first in Italy. “I’m very happy with my match, I served well, returned well and negotiated well the break points he had at 3-1.”underlined Sinner. “It’s special to be in the final again in front of this crowd, I have more experience than last year and I hope tomorrow will be a great day for me after a very good year.”he added.

Fritz confident and vindictive

To succeed Novak Djokovic, who beat him in the final in 2023 and who, having qualified for this final tournament of the year, withdrew due to injury, Sinner will now have to beat a player who is full of confidence and revenge. Fritz caused a sensation by ending the season of world No.2 Alexander Zverev, who was on an impressive eight-match winning streak. The American, ranked 5th in the world, won 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7/3). after more than two hours of intense play.

As expected, this duel between two of the circuit’s most feared server-catchers came down to the last detail. Just as he was on the verge of breaking in the decisive set, with five break points to annihilate, Fritz made the difference in the tie-break thanks to a helping hand from his opponent, who gave him three points with three backhands that were too long.

The American is becoming the bête noire of Zverev, who conceded a fourth consecutive defeat. “This defeat is perhaps more painful (than the others), it’s going to be harder to digest, because I think I produced better tennis than him in the second and third sets.”said the German, who was playing his 90th match of the year and found himself on the losing side. “a bit drained physically”. during the match.

First American title since 1999?

At the age of 27, Fritz, winner of the Indian Wells Masters 1000 in 2022, can claim the most important title of his career. He could also put an end to a long drought for the United States: the last American, Pete Sampras, to win the title was in 1999. “tournament of the masters.

“I’m one of the best players in the world, it’s not the results that say it, it’s how I feel.”explained the Californian. “Since the US Open final (lost 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 to Sinner, Editor’s note), I’ve made a lot of improvements to my game. This final, I didn’t play well, I didn’t serve well.”he said. And even though he has already lost to Sinner this week, for the Italian’s third victory in four meetings, Fritz is not starting out defeated. “I had my chances in this match, it was closer than the score suggests. He’s world No.1, he’s confident, but I know what I have to do to beat him.”he warned.