Sinner maintains his love affair with Turin, beats Medvedev and will compete in the final of the masters tournament

If there is someone above the rest in these ATP Finals, it is none other than Jannik Sinner, who beat Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-7 (4) and 6-1, in two hours and 29 minutes, and will play this Sunday his first final of the tournament. Firm jaw when curves came, which there were, the 22-year-old Italian endorsed everything he had signed throughout a hitherto impeccable tournament. A mischievous smile after seeing his rival's last ball long was the culmination of another magical afternoon in front of his audience.

Medvedev faced a careful ballot. He had just lost two consecutive finals against him, a player who had never beaten him, and he was facing the Italian in the best moment of his life, the only one who entered the semifinals undefeated, after defeating Djokovic for the first time in his career. and, as if all that were not enough, supported by the public that filled the 13,000 seats at the Pala Alpitour, fans who seem to have finally found in him the undisputed leader of tennis in their country, well-fed in the middle class. high but without a competitor of the reliability that the young man from San Candido is beginning to show, winner in the spring, in Toronto, of the first Masters 1000 of his career.

This evolution, these good results, have raised the self-esteem of Sinner, the fourth favorite, who tended to get caught in compromising circumstances.. He escaped a break point in the third game and came back after a 40-0 loss to break the Russian's serve.. His continuous gestures of strength when overcoming setbacks offered the portrait of a player who right now feels capable of anything.. It didn't matter that he had to deal with the number three in the world, with a man who surpassed him in their first six meetings, with the player with the most victories this year who is leaving, 66, and with the most victories also on hard courts, 49, with the tournament champion in 2020 and finalist in 2021, for contextualizing merits that go much further.

Fast on the move

As skilled at proposing as he was at resisting, the transalpine was a bullet in lateral movements, closing doors that Medvedev hit, something accelerated at times. Not even the delay of 51% accuracy with the service prevented him from taking the first set. Not a single complaint about his back, which had him on the edge of the canvas in the last Green Group match, against Holger Rune, in which he taught a lesson in fair play, fighting for a victory that did not urge him and taking the hand of Djokovic to semi-finals.

Medvedev, who had let himself go in his match against Alcaraz, as he had already guaranteed his place in the penultimate round and only had one day of rest, walked steadily during the second set thanks to his efficiency with his serve.. It was nevertheless when he saw signs of weakness in the host: three unforced errors in the seventh game, a break ball saved with a reverse forehand and resolution on the tape, a disturbing game for him and his unbreakable allies, who once again proclaimed his name when the Russian's forehand went long and the scoreboard showed 4-4. Medvedev persisted until taking the set in the tiebreaker against a Sinner whose strength was beginning to fail.

It was, however, the last finalist of the United States Open who felt discomfort in his right piriformis and left the court to be treated by the tournament's physiotherapist.. Eight minutes of truce. Oxygen also for Sinner. He looked gray for the local player, but it is evident that he is touched by inspiration and exhibits bombproof tenacity.. Medvedev broke serve in the second game, threw his racket to the ground and confronted a spectator after missing a ball, 15-15, then. Nothing would stop the Italian, who arrives with extraordinary firmness for the most important title of his career..