It’s supposed to be the tournament where the year’s top eight players battle it out for one last prestigious trophy.
Only this year was it hardly a contest at the ATP Finals.
That’s because Jannik Sinner’s game reached such a high level in Turin that his fellow competitors — all of them ranked in the top 10 — said “there’s nothing you can really do” because “he’s playing almost too good.”
“I go into these matches expecting him to hit incredible shots,” said Taylor Fritz, the American who had the misfortune of facing Sinner twice, losing both in the group stage and in Sunday’s (November 17, 2024) final. “When it happens, you just tell yourself there’s nothing you can really do.”
Sinner’s triumph followed his first two Grand Slam titles this year at the Australian Open and U.S. Open. He’s got a huge lead atop the rankings, is on an 11-match winning, has won 26 of his last 27 matches and has a 70-6 record overall this year.
In matches against No. 9 Alex de Minaur, No. 4 Fritz, No. 5 Daniil Medvedev in the group stage; then No. 6 Ruud in the semifinals and Fritz again in the final, Sinner didn’t drop a set — a feat last accomplished at the ATP Finals by Ivan Lendl in 1986. Nobody even got more than four games off him in a set.
Sinner, however, didn’t face Carlos Alcaraz, the only player who beat him more than once this year.
Ruud was blown away by Sinner’s level after playing him for the first time in three years.
“Everything in his game improved,” Ruud said. “He’s very serious about what he does. It’s inspiring. Even though he’s younger than me, I have a lot to learn from him.
“He’s playing almost too good for most of the opponents,” Ruud added.
Ruud, who only managed to win three games against Sinner in a 6-1, 6-2 rout, described the Italian’s shots as “missiles.”
“You feel like unless you hit a ball with really good depth or close to the sidelines — and even if you hit close to the sidelines but not fast enough — he’s going to rip it back at you,” Ruud said. “It’s stressful. For a split of a second every time before you hit a shot, you know, ‘If I don’t get this right, I might be punished on the next shot.”
Ruud was asked to compare Sinner’s level to Novak Djokovic, the record 24-time Grand Slam champion who withdrew from the tournament this year due to injury.
“On TV it looks probably similar the way they play. But Jannik hits a faster ball than Novak. He doesn’t let you breathe,” Ruud said. “With Novak you can play rallies. I’m not going to say it’s easier to play Novak because he’s the best in history. At least with Novak you can play more rallies and not be terrified of Novak ripping a bomb down the line or cross-court.
“You don’t realize how fast Jannik plays unless you watch him play live and you’re there in the stadium,” Ruud added.
Sinner tested positive in two separate drug tests in March, and a decision to clear him of wrongdoing was appealed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in September. A final ruling is expected next year.
Sinner’s explanation was that the banned performance enhancer entered his system unintentionally through a massage from his physiotherapist, who had used a spray containing the steroid to treat his own cut finger.
WADA is seeking a ban of one to two years but Simone Vagnozzi, one of Sinner’s co-coaches, said the team isn’t even planning for a possible stop.
“Honestly, we haven’t even thought about it, and I don’t even want to think about it,” Vagnozzi said. “He doesn’t deserve a ban because he didn’t do anything wrong. He couldn’t have prevented what happened.”
Meanwhile, Vagnozzi and Darren Cahill, Sinner’s other co-coach, have been implementing more options into Sinner’s game.
“He played the backhand slice well against Medvedev but he could use that more often in other circumstances. He could serve-and-volley more,” Vagnozzi said. “Today he constantly changed his return position so as not to give Fritz any reference points.”
Sinner won a total of eight tournaments this year and will have a mountain of ranking points to defend in 2025.
“We couldn’t care less about that,” Cahill said, preferring to focus on the “Race to Turin” standings instead that qualifies players for the finals: “January 1 will be the same as every single player on tour. It’s a Formula One race for us. We start from zero and away we go, week by week and try to build points.”
First, though, Sinner will attempt to help Italy defend the Davis Cup title this week in Malaga, Spain, — where Rafael Nadal will retire.
Published – November 19, 2024 12:21 am IST