WORLD number one Jannik Sinner quickly notched up win number one at the ATP Finals in Turin as action got underway at the invite-only event. The Italian overcame Australian Alex de Minaur in straight sets 6-3 6-4, defeating the first-time ATP Finalist on day one of the group stage.

Coming into the match Sinner was the heavy favourite boasting a remarkable 7-0 record over the Aussie, with both players having interrupted preparations in the second half of the season. Thanks to Novak Djokovic withdrawing from the event, it enabled de Minaur to guarantee his place for the first time, but was no match for Sinner.

Though the Aussie started strongly by breaking Sinner in the third game of the match to go up 2-1, the top ranked player responded immediately and then took out the first set after two breaks himself to win it 6-3. It was much of the same in the second set with de Minaur able to compete, but Sinner being that class above to win in an hour and 25 minutes.

“Considering [how long since I last played], I’m very happy,” Sinner said post-match. “I started off with some unforced errors. He was playing great in the beginning of the match, so I just tried to stay there mentally, knowing that hopefully at some point my tennis would arrive. It arrived quite early, and I started to return very well.

“My serve, for sure I have to improve if I want to [win] the next match. Against Taylor [Fritz] for example, today he played really well. Let’s see, but today I’m very pleased about the win and hopefully this can give me confidence for the next one.”

The 23-year-old won four straight games from 1-2 down in the first set to really take the momentum in front of a home crowd. He hit 19 winners to seven in the match, with eight aces among them. Incredibly, Sinner only dropped 10 points on his serve and just four in the second set. He converted three of seven break point opportunities as well.

While disappointed with the loss, de Minaur said he believed he had a good chance of making it through the group stage.

“I knew I had my work cut out,” de Minaur said. “I thought I started well, then I kind of slipped away. I just couldn’t sustain the level that I needed today to beat Jannik.

“His ball speed, in my eyes, is so much higher than basically the rest of the people. From both sides he’s solid. He keeps on improving. He’s improved his serve so much throughout the years.

“I always rate my chances [of progressing out of the group]. I think the way I see it is that Jannik was the only player in the group who I hadn’t had a win against. The rest of the players I’ve had some success against. Now I’m not playing the No. 1 in the world anymore, I’ll be looking forward to that.”

In the earlier match, American Taylor Fritz proved too good for a frustrated Daniil Medvedev. The fifth seed got up 6-4 6-3 in an hour and 20 minutes over the Russian who admitted he had “zero pleasure of being on the court” and even turned his racquet around to face a serve with the handle facing Fritz.

The fifth seed won 85 per cent of his first serve points and was able to maximise the slower ball speed to overcome Medvedev who served eight double faults including three consecutive at one stage. By comparison, Fritz served nine aces without a double-fault.

“[The serve] was a big part of it for sure,” Fritz said post-match. “He’s such a good returner. You can make a lot of first serves, but if they are not very high quality, he just puts so many returns in the court.

“It was huge for me, I hit a lot of lines, a lot of spots to start out games. I got out of a lot of service games [with] no pressure. Some of the ones we got tight in, I was either able to grind through the long rallies or get myself some free points.”