After winning his first Grand Slam in Melbourne, Australia, Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner remains unbeaten in 2024, adding the Rotterdam Open to his title collection. 

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By Alessandro Cataldi Matthew Contributor | Edited by Bronte Delmonico

The 22-year-old won against the ATP No. 11 Alex De Minaur from Sydney, Australia, in two sets (7-5 6-4) on Sunday to win his twelfth title and extend his 2024 unbeaten streak to fifteen consecutive matches.  

The road to the final saw the Alto Adige prodigy beating important players like Gael Monfils and Tallon Griekspoor, conceding only one set throughout the whole tournament against Frenchman.  

Jannik faced De Minaur once again in a final, after the previous matchup between the two had granted the Italian his first 1000 Masters title in Canada in August, although this time winning wouldn’t have been as easy. The Australian cruised past Andrey Rublev and Gregor Dimitrov to reach the final and was ready to play the game until the last point.  

The first set saw Sinner striking first, breaking De Minaur on the fifth game and keeping his serve until the ninth game. The Australian however wasn’t done yet, and after saving four set points he managed to get a counter break, making it 5-5.  

Although the Italian player seemed in trouble, after taking the game to his advantage he managed to break De Minaur on his second breakpoint with a magnificent winner on the line. Sinner then won the following game, sealing the set with a two hundred kilometers per hour ace.

The second set saw De Minaur fighting on every point, winning his first two service games without letting Sinner winning one single point. However, in the fourth game, Sinner had saved two break points, keeping his serve after twelve minutes of play. The following game however became a turning point in the match, while De Minaur seemed to be playing better than Sinner, the latter suddenly improved game, first by taking the Australian to advantages, and then by stealing the game from him with his fourth break point.  

Nonetheless, the match wasn’t over just yet, and after going up 40-15, De Minaur managed to counter break Sinner right away, making it 3-3. The final was filled with emotion and seemed to be destined to go on until the third set, but Sinner wasn’t particularly fond about this idea, breaking De Minaur right after conceding a break in the previous game, as the Australian’ shot ends into the net. The match went on and both players won their respective service games, thus decreeing Sinner’s victory.   

The Italian champion then showed his humility after the game, praising De Minaur by saying that he would have preferred to play with him in doubles as he is one of the toughest players on tour.  

With this win Jannik Sinner became the No. 3 in the ATP ranking, reaching a level that no other Italian player has achieved since the official ranking existence, while being the second ever to do it, as in the 60s Nicola Pietrangeli was journalistically deemed to be the third best player on tour. Who knows what the future might have in store for Sinner, but in the meantime it’s certain that the 22 year old from Alto Adige continues to write history, bringing a whole country closer to a sport that they had forgotten to love. 

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