First it was the hip that had to mistreat Jannik Sinner and made him lose the Rome Masters 1000 and not arrive in the best shape Roland Garros. A flu conditioned him Wimbledon and tonsillitis marginalized him from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. But it seems that the bad streak is behind him for the first Italian to be number one in world tennis. The one born in San Candido 23 years ago defeated the American Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (7-4) and 6-2 to win the Cincinnati Masters 1000 and face the United States Open in the best way, which will begin on Monday.
He will arrive at the last Grand Slam of the year without so much pressure because his arrival at the final in Cincinnati had assured him that his number one will not be in danger beyond what happens to him in Flushing Meadows.
As Novak Djokovic has played fewer tournaments than usual and Carlos Alcaraz He said goodbye early to Ohio, the Italian will be the leader of the rankings at least until the ATP 500 in Beijing, which will be held from September 26 to October 2.
He had just lost points in the Sinner ranking due to his fall against the Russian Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals of the Montreal Masters 1000, where he was defending the title, but his victory against the German Alexander Zverev in the Cincinnati semifinal left him with the number secured. 1 because in 2023 he had lost here in his debut against Serbian Dusan Lajovic 6-4 and 7-6 (7-4).
Sinner played the 19th final of his career last night and only lost four definitions at the 2021 and 2023 Miami Masters 1000, and in Rotterdam and at last year’s ATP Finals.
In Cincinnati he won his 15th title, of which he won 13 on cement, one on clay (Umag 2022) and one on grass: this year, in Halle. With yesterday, Sinner won three Masters 1000, since he had previously won the one in Canada 2023 and the one in Miami this year.
But there is a piece of information that shows the present of the Italian: 2024 anda is the year with the most trophies in his career. The thing is that with last night he reached five consecrations, after those at the Australian Open, Rotterdam, Masters 1000 in Miami and Halle.
In the first set, they held their serves until the tie break, in which Tiafoe led 4-3. But Sinner took four points in a row and the first set. The Italian broke at the beginning of the second for 1-0 and then with a superb forehand for 4-1. His rival was discouraged by Sinner’s quality and the number 1 saw the light, went up and quickly finished the final. Now, let the US Open come…