Jannik Sinner is the fourth player to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, joining Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev at the season finale, which will be played in Turin from 12-19 November.
The Italian earned his place after defeating Marcos Giron in the second round of the Rolex Shanghai Masters. He has qualified for the year-end championships for the first time after competing at the Pala Alpitour as an alternate in 2021 when countryman Matteo Berrettini withdrew due to injury.
“I knew [I could qualify] before the match, so I wanted to accomplish this here,” said Sinner in Shanghai after beating Giron. “I’m very happy. It was our main goal this season, and I’m very happy I’m officially going to be in Turin in front of the home crowd there. It means a lot.”
🚨 @janniksin joins the party in Turin for the #NittoATPFinals 🔥 pic.twitter.com/7dKf6ju6vA
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 7, 2023
Sinner has enjoyed a season of breakthroughs in 2023. The Italian advanced to his first major semi-final at Wimbledon and lifted his maiden ATP Masters 1000 trophy in Toronto.
Also a champion this year in Beijing and Montpellier, Sinner made several deep runs throughout the season. He reached the final at the Masters 1000 event in Miami, where he upset Carlos Alcaraz in a semi-final widely viewed as one of the best matches of the year. Sinner also made the final in Rotterdam and reached the semi-finals at Indian Wells and Monte-Carlo.
The 22-year-old is in top form as evidenced by his performance in Beijing, where he defeated Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev in back-to-back straight-sets matches to claim the trophy.
When Sinner competed as an alternate in Turin two years ago, he showed comfort on the big stage. The Italian defeated Hubert Hurkacz in straight sets before pushing Daniil Medvedev to a final-set tie-break.
“Two years ago I had a chance to play there, a couple of matches, because of Matteo hurting himself, and it was a tough moment for him,” Sinner told ATP Media. “I just tried to play somehow the best tennis I had in that moment, but it is a little bit of a different feeling when you make it in the official eight. I’m very happy about this achievement and really looking forward to it.”
“I started to watch the finals when they were played in London,” added Sinner, when asked about his early memories of the Nitto ATP Finals. “I guess it was the famous four. Rafa [Nadal], Roger [Federer], Novak [Djokovic], Andy [Murray]. I also watched the final between Grigor [Dimitrov] and [David] Goffin. It’s a very exciting tournament.”