No first day jitters

Turin: Jannik Sinner got his title defence at the ATP Finals off to a solid start before his home fans with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Felix Auger-Aliassime.

To also claim the year-end No. 1 ranking. Sinner needs to win the season-ending event for the top eight players and hope Carlos Alcaraz doesn’t reach the final. No. 8-ranked Auger-Aliassime appeared slowed by a left calf issue that arose near the end of the first set. He was twice treated by a trainer during the second set.

“It was very tough until 6-5 and then he had a physical issue,” said Sinner, referring to when he broke the Canadian’s serve to close

out the first set.

Sinner won the title in Turin last year without dropping a set and hasn’t lost at the

event since the 2023 final to Novak Djokovic.

There was a sign held aloft in the crowd that labeled Sinner “Italian pride” and Sinner was serenaded with a soccer-like chant of “Ole, ole, ole. Sin-ner, Sin-ner” during his on-court post-match interview. “It’s a special tournament and place for me,” he said. agencies