The two cannibal masters who have left the world of tennis in the last two years have offered a sporting spectacle like no other. The winner with two zero sets (7-6, 7-5) was Sinner who gave Turin an encore in the final of the ATP Finals which, as expected, ignited the enthusiasm of the public that packed the Inalpi Arena and the millions of viewers who followed it on TV (perhaps only a non-overlap because the Italy-Norway match that was not relevant for the World Cup avoided a historic overtake among the audience).
First set
Sinner won in a tiebreaker (7 to 4) a very even first set – stalled for more than 11 minutes due to crowd pain and a medical timeout called at 5 to 4 in his favor by Alcaraz. The Spaniard got set point at 6 to 5 with Jannik’s serve, but Sinner used his serve to overcome the stalemate moment (firing the second 180 km into his opponent’s body), as well as other minor moments of difficulty encountered during the first game. Sinner had six aces and a slew of straight points to put pressure on first place, also forcing second with two double faults. In the decisive moment, the Italian demonstrated great technique with two lobs that slipped past the onrushing Alcaraz.
Second set
Two consecutive double faults early in the second set condemned Sinner to start by dropping serve, with a clear drop in concentration after his efforts in the first half. The situation turned to 3-2 for Alcaraz who made several unintentional errors, in particular a seemingly uncomplicated volley, giving Sinner the first break of the match, although fortunately capitalized on, with a poor return. The world No. The seventh game lasted just over seven minutes and in the end Sinner managed to make it happen by maintaining a long rally. It went game after game until the twelfth match, when Sinner found an opportunity to put Alcaraz (who played the entire match with a bandage on his right leg) in the corner and force him into a fatal error. It ended with a break point that for the second year in a row gave Sinner the Masters title with a score of 7 to 5.
Rankings and prize money
A win that doesn’t affect the ATP rankings and but the purse (already rich again this year from the two champions) does. In fact, the check for this year’s undefeated champion was increased to 5.07 million dollars, the highest prize ever contested in ATP history. With a total prize pool for the Finals of 15,500,000 dollars, the loser of the final round had to settle for around 2.7 million.
