Twelve months ago, Jannik Sinner beat Novak Djokovic in the round-robin stage but fell to the Serbian in the title match at the Nitto ATP Finals. On Sunday, the Italian will take on Taylor Fritz in the championship match in Turin, having overcome the American in Ilie Nastase Group play.
Since his final defeat to Djokovic in 2023, the 23-year-old has won majors at the Australian Open and US Open, while he has earned ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours.
With added experience in his locker and feel-good factor high, Sinner is ready to write a different narrative on Sunday.
“It's a very similar position as I was in last year,” Sinner said in his post-match press conference. “Just I've grown in the past 12 months as a player. Sunday is going to be a very interesting day in any case. I'm happy again to be in this position. It's a very special occasion. Sundays in each tournament means that you had a great, great week.
"Hopefully I'm going to enjoy tomorrow and we see what's coming out. I'm happy to be in this position again.”
[ATP AWARDS]Sinner defeated Casper Ruud in straight sets in the semi-finals and now holds a 69-6 record on the year. If he defeats Fritz, he will become the first player since Andy Murray (78) in 2016 to earn 70 match wins in a season.
The Italian was pleased with how he performed against Ruud.
"I felt I was returning well in the first games of each set and then when going up a break I tried to be very concentrated with service games,” Sinner said in his on-court interview. “I tried to be intense with each shot and I'm very happy with the performance and to be in the final again."
Sinner is chasing his eighth title of the season and is trying to become the first Italian champion at the Nitto ATP Finals. Sinner leads Fritz 3-1 in the pair's Lexus ATP Head2Head series, having beaten him in the US Open final in September. The singles final starts at 6pm CET on Sunday.
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