Alex de Minaur enjoyed a roller coaster ride at the ATP Finals in Turin. The Aussie fell to Carlos Alcaraz and Lorenzo Musetti to extend his terrible top-10 streak before besting Taylor Fritz.
As it turned out, it was enough for Alex to qualify for the semi-final, becoming only the third player in the history of the year-ending event to achieve that with one win and joining David Nalbandian and Kei Nishikori on that list.
However, the Aussie could not extend his journey following a 7-5, 6-2 defeat to the defending champion Jannik Sinner, who provided his 13th victory over de Minaur from as many duels!
Asking the question about a tight opening set, de Minaur noted that he knows how to win sets against Sinner. While doing many things well, Alex could not find his first serve in the pivotal moments.
The Italian used that to grab a decisive break at 5-5 and gain a massive boost. He carried it into the second set and sealed the deal after another rock-solid performance.
Jannik defended three break points at the start of the duel and four overall to keep the pressure on the other side. The home favorite fired 30 winners and 22 unforced errors, taming his strokes nicely and outplaying his rival from the baseline.
De Minaur stayed in touch in the most extended rallies but trailed in the shortest ones despite hitting more service winners. The Aussie wasted those chances on the return in game two.
He had to work hard in his games to follow the rival's pace. Alex survived challenges in games one, seven and nine to remain in contention. The Italian held at 15 in the tenth game to extend the battle.
He stepped in and generated three break points in the next one. Jannik seized the last with a backhand down the line winner, moving in front and landing a service winner at 6-5 to close the opening part of the duel in 66 minutes.
Sinner kept pushing on the return early in the second set and secured breaks in games one and three for a massive advantage. Alex faced two more break points at 0-4 and defended them to avoid a bagel.
The Italian saved a break point in the sixth game with an ace and landed a service winner for a 5-1 advantage. De Minaur extended the match with a hold at 30 in game seven with an unreturned serve.
The defending champion served for the win at 5-2 and fired a forehand winner on a match point to seal the deal and sail into the title clash.
"That's a difficult question to ask, because it makes it seem like my best level is not enough in your eyes. I have won sets against Jannik before. Look, there were a lot of good things in that first set.
I think one of the key elements was the drop in my first-serve percentage at crucial moments, which allowed him to take charge in that game at 5-5. He also pulled off some very good shots," Alex de Minaur said.
