Félix Auger-Aliassime and Jannik Sinner have become quite acquainted over the final months of the season. On Monday at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, the two met for the fourth time since August and it was the defending champion who beat Auger-Aliassime in the Canuck's first match at the year-end championships in three years.
With Sinner’s 7-5, 6-1 win over the Canadian No. 1, he ensured that the Italian faithful left satisfied after countryman Lorenzo Musetti’s loss earlier in the day.
The passionate home crowd was met by a strong service performance from Sinner. The Italian won 89 per cent of his first-serve points, winning every single one during the opener. Auger-Aliassime managed to save seven of ten break points but ended the match without holding a break opportunity of his own as he struggled with an injury in the second set.
Sinner’s dominance on his delivery began right from the early stages as the four-time major champion dropped just two points through his opening three service games,. At 3-2, Sinner had a chance to pull away with the match’s first break points, but Auger-Aliassime escaped with a hold to remain even.
The Italian’s first serve continued to lead him to comfortable holds as the former world No. 1 had a mini-opening to wrap up the set at 5-4, love-30. Auger-Aliassime delivered two-straight unreturned serves to level the game, eventually managing to hold after saving a break point.
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However, in his next service game, the Canadian was under pressure once again and was unable to extend the set, walking gingerly towards the chairs as he dropped the opener.
Sinner carried that pressure in the second set, where an Auger-Aliassime double fault at 15-30 in the second game set the world No. 2 up for an early break. On the next point, the Montrealer hit his forehand wide and found himself trailing 0-2.
After Sinner held to lead 3-0, Auger-Aliassime called for a medical timeout regarding an apparent issue with his left leg.
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Coming out of the break, the Canadian fought off a pair of break points to end his service skid but in the sixth game, Sinner broke for the third time to serve for the match at 5-1. The Italian capped off the contest with his third ace for his fourth-straight win over Auger-Aliassime.
The Montreal-native is back in action on Wednesday against American Ben Shelton, who lost in straight sets to Alexander Zverev in his opening match.
Feature Photo: L'Équipe
