Sinner opens ATP Finals title defence by beating Auger-Aliassime – Bns Sections.

Jannik Sinner acquired his title defence on the ATP Finals off to a strong begin earlier than his dwelling followers with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Felix Auger-Aliassime.

To additionally declare the yr-finish No. 1 rating. Sinner must win the season-ending occasion for the highest eight gamers and hope Carlos Alcaraz would not attain the ultimate.

No. 8-ranked Auger-Aliassime appeared slowed by a left calf subject that arose close to the tip of the primary set. He was twice handled by a coach in the course of the second set.

“It was very tough until 6-5 and then he had a physical issue,” mentioned Sinner, referring to when he broke the Canadian’s serve to shut out the primary set.

Sinner gained the title in Turin final yr with out dropping a set and hasn’t misplaced on the occasion because the 2023 last to Novak Djokovic.

There was an indication held aloft within the crowd that labeled Sinner “Italian pride” and Sinner was serenaded with a soccer-like chant of “Ole, ole, ole. Sin-ner, Sin-ner” throughout his on-courtroom put up-match interview.

“It’s a special tournament and place for me,” he mentioned.

Sinner has gained all 4 of his conferences with Auger-Aliassime this yr, together with a U.S. Open semifinal and the current Paris Masters last.

Sinner and Alexander Zverev lead the Bjorn Borg group with one win every after Zverev beat Ben Shelton on Sunday.

The prime two finishers in every group advance to the semifinals.

Sinner gained 89% of the factors when he put his first serve in, claiming 32 of these 36 factors.

“I have a very difficult group, with people who serve really, really strong,” Sinner said. “You need to remain focused practically the entire match because the moment you concede a break it’s tough to come back.”

Fritz beats weary Musetti

Earlier, Taylor Fritz beat late entry Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 6-4.

Unlike Musetti, who was making his debut, Fritz has pedigree within the match after reaching the ultimate final yr and the semifinals on debut in 2022. He’d additionally spent the previous week making ready on the indoor courtroom.

“A very important one to win I would say if I want to make it out of the group,” Fritz mentioned. “He plays quite different with the slices and everything. So it took me some time to get used to it.

“I was able to avoid getting broken early in the match when he had some chances. Then I feel like I kind of got into the match more. … I thought I played really well.”

Musetti was a late replacement for Djokovic, who withdrew with an injured shoulder after beating the Italian in the Athens final on Saturday. Musetti arrived in Turin only on Sunday but couldn’t ride his hometown crowd’s support.

“I couldn’t be at 100% in shape, especially physically,” Musetti mentioned. “Mentally, I’m actually glad that I’m right here. I’m tremendous happy with myself, of my staff, of what we achieved. Today, I attempted to struggle with what I had.”

Fritz and Alcaraz lead the Jimmy Connors group with one win every, whereas De Minaur and Musetti path with one loss every.

On Tuesday, Fritz performs Alcaraz and Musetti performs Alex de Minaur.