World number one Jannik Sinner continued his perfect start at the ATP Finals with a dominant win over Russia’s Daniil Medvedev.
Playing on home soil in Turin, Sinner won 6-3 6-4 to top the Ilie Nastase group with three wins from three.
Sinner’s place in the semi-finals was previously confirmed by Taylor Fritz’s 5-7 6-4 6-3 defeat of Alex de Minaur.
He returned the favor by beating Medvedev, with the Russian needing to beat Sinner in straight sets if he wanted to qualify against American Fritz.
Sinner and Fritz will discover their opponents in the semi-finals on Friday, while Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev can still qualify.
‘No preference [on who I play]. Whoever it is on the other side of the net, I will try to play the best tennis I can,” Sinner told Sky Sports.
Top seed Sinner is yet to drop a set in Turin as he looks for an impressive end to a year that has seen him win his first two Grand Slam titles but also become embroiled in an ongoing doping controversy.
“I’m here, I know what I’ve accomplished this year, so I’m trying to go out on the field with a good attitude,” Sinner said in his on-field interview.
“I have a good team around me. I have beautiful people around me who support and wish me every day.”
The Australian and US Open champion dropped just two points in the first set after Medvedev was undone by 17 unforced errors.
Sinner broke for a 5-3 lead before serving out the opener and carried his momentum into the second, again striking first.
Medvedev responded by leveling at 3-3, but more unforced errors proved costly for the fourth seed and Sinner took advantage to break at 4-4, much to the delight of the partisan crowd.
The Italian was the winner of seven ATP Tour titles in 2024 and calmly served out the match for his 68th victory from 74 matches.
“I’m trying to find new ways to improve as a player here. I’m trying to win as many games here as I can,” Sinner added.
Fritz fights back to defeat De Minaur
Earlier on Thursday, Australian needed to beat fifth seed De Minaur Fritz in straight sets to have any chance of progressing to the semi-finals in Turin.
However, his hopes were crushed when Fritz stole the second set against the run of play.
The US Open finalist had to wait for his fate in the last four, which was confirmed when Medvedev conceded the opening set to Sinner.
“We’re all pretty beat up, but if I’m in the semi-finals of the World Tour final, I have energy to give,” Fritz said after his victory.
Seventh seed, although struggling through his opening service games, De Minaur was the first to break as he ended a brilliant rally with a smart cross-court winner for a 4-3 lead.
Fritz reacted quickly to level in the next game before De Minaur broke again and served out the opening set, while his opponent became increasingly frustrated and complained to the referee about flash photography in the arena.
The US Open runner-up had to fend off two break points in the second set, while De Minaur looked comfortable in comparison on serve with three love holds.
That was until Fritz stepped up his intensity and took his chance at 5-4 to end De Minaur’s season.
With his tournament all but over, De Minaur was left reeling as Fritz surged to wrap up the victory with an ace after two hours and eight minutes.
“He was all over me. What I did great was towards the end of the second set I started finding my serve, I started serving much better,” Fritz said.
“It just gave me a little bit of comfort to stay in the game and not be under so much pressure. It was still incredibly tough.”
Meanwhile, Britain’s Henry Patten and his partner Harri Heliovaara of Finland recorded three wins from three in the doubles group stage.
The pair, who won Wimbledon together in July, fought back to win 4-6 6-3 12-10 against 2020 champions Nikola Mektic and Wesley Koolhof, who were playing his final ATP Tour match.
Patten and Heliovaara had already secured their place in the semi-finals and will meet their last four opponents on Friday.
