REIGNING CHAMPION SINNER CRUISES PAST SHELTON TO GEAR UP FOR SEMI-FINAL IN STYLE
Jannik Sinner remains perfect at the 2025 Nitto ATP Finals after continuing his dominance over Ben Shelton.
The Italian raced to a 6-3 7-6 success to extend his lead in the head-to-head to 8-1 and make it three wins from three in the round-robin.
The defending champion had already qualified as the winner of Bjorn Borg Group but ensured he is in tip-top shape heading into Saturday’s semi-final with Alex de Minaur courtesy of his 29th victory in a row on an indoor hardcourt.
Speaking on court following the victory, Sinner said: “When you come here and win all three round-robin matches you have to play some very high level, some great tennis, which I’ve done.
“I feel like serving very well in important moments has brought me to this point, but again it was a truly special day playing in front of the home crowd now.
“Against Ben it’s always a big challenge. You have to take the little chances you have. When he gets out with the huge serve you cannot do a lot, so you have to accept it and never give up. The mental aspect has been good so far, but let’s see what’s coming tomorrow.”
On facing de Minaur, he added: “It was one of the best matches I’ve seen him (de Minaur) play against Taylor (Fritz), so I have to be very careful. He doesn’t have a lot to lose and I have a lot to lose, so it’s going to be very difficult.
“But from my point of view, I’m very happy to be in the semis, a very special occasion for me and hopefully I can show some good tennis.”
Shelton’s first appearance at the end of season event finishes with him losing all three matches which means his hopes of concluding the year as the American No.1 have also been dashed.
The 23-year-old got off to a shocking start as he was broken in the first game and although his proactive net rushing made life tricky, he came up short once again as Sinner broke for a second time on his second set point to seal the opener in 39 minutes.
Shelton took care of business in a serve-dominated second set until the 10th game when he was forced to save match point with some powerhouse forehands and a clutch first serve.
Sinner couldn’t force any more openings but was too solid in the tie-break as he took it 7-3 to conclude the victory on his second match point in one hour and 36 minutes.
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