ATP Finals: World leading Sinner on song at homecoming

Chants of 'Ole, ole, ole, ole,' boomed around the stands, the 23-year-old's family and friends joining in the prolonged applause.

"It’s a nice feeling, special sharing these kinds of moments here in Italy with the crowd,” said Sinner. "This would not be possible without all the people I have around me, especially these kind of people I want to keep forever, because it has been a journey from the beginning.

“I just heard that my mom was crying, which is something very cute. Only they know from my early age and stages, when I was around 13, how many sacrifices we made as a family.

“Now I’m standing here with one of the, maybe the most special trophy I have. It’s a great competition between this and Grand Slams. This is a very consistent trophy. You have to play one year very consistent tennis, so this is for sure a very, very tough trophy to get.”

His journey this season has been nothing short of Sin-sational. A tour-leading seven titles, including Grand Slam glory at the Australian Open and US Open, have underlined his dominance at the very top. He's also now equal with Alexander Zverev on a tour-leading 68 match wins in 2024.

On June 10, Sinner became the first man or woman from Italy to reach the No.1 spot in the singles rankings – a position he hasn't let slip since. The 23-year-old is also just the fourth active player to achieve the year-end feat alongside Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz.

Over to the season-ending ATP Finals this past week and the 23-year-old has demonstrated why he sits at the peak of men's tennis. Rocket shot-making, slalom skiing movement, Sinner has been playing mesmerising tennis on home soil. So much so, the top seed has dropped just 22 games in three round robin matches against Alex de Minaur, Taylor Fritz and Daniil Medvedev. Six out of six sets, 'The Fox' is the red-hot favourite to land another significant title this Sunday.

"I'm trying to find new ways to improve as a player,” said Sinner, after defeating Medvedev 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday night.

“I'm trying to win as many matches here as I can. I know what I have achieved during this year, so I try to step on court with a good mindset. I have beautiful people around me who support me daily, which for me is really important. I try to enjoy my time on the court. The atmosphere here is amazing, so I’m just trying to play some good tennis this week. Let’s see what’s coming in the next round.”

Fritz joins Sinner as the duo progressing to the semi-finals out of the Ilie Nastase Group, earning his last four spot with a three-set comeback versus de Minaur.

Over to the John Newcombe Group and world No.2 Alexander Zverev is the current leader with two commanding victories over Andrey Rublev and Casper Ruud. An under-the-weather Carlos Alcaraz bounced back from an opening loss to Ruud to sprinkle in a host of hot shots in action facing Rublev.

The permutations will need to be sorted in their final round robin clashes on Friday. 2018 and 2021 champion Zverev and Alcaraz collide first in the afternoon session. Will Zverev continue to replicate his brutally efficient game ,which yielded the Rolex Paris Masters title earlier this month? Or can Alcaraz click into the top gear from Roland-Garros and Wimbledon earlier this year?

The Top 3 rivals are split at 5-5 in their head-to-head, with Zverev earning victory back in January at the Australian Open. However, Alcaraz stormed to victory at Indian Wells, then required five sets to fend off the German in the riveting Roland-Garros final in June.

Whoever launches out of the John Newcombe Group, they have a seismic task to derail the soaring Sinner.