ATP Finals: Sinner fends off Fritz; Koolhof-Mektic pair down second seed Granollers-Zeballos

Turin: World No.1 Jannik Sinner’s quest to conclude his outstanding season with a ATP Finals trophy continued as the top sealed a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Taylor Fritz, moving to 2-0 in the Ilie Nastase Group. Fritz put Sinner through his paces in the early stages of the contest. The Italian, however, raised his game when required to register a one-hour, 40-minute triumph, improving to 3-1 in the pair’s ATP Head-2-Head series. Sinner, who is chasing his Tour-leading eighth title of 2024, now looks in strong contention to progress from the group, having not dropped a set. He will seek to extend his perfect 2-0 record in the Ilie Nastase Group when he takes on fourth seed Daniil Medvedev on Thursday. Fritz, who is 1-1, aims to secure a crucial win against Alex de Minaur in his bid to advance to the semi-finals for a second time (2022). Sinner reached the final in Turin last year. Twelve months on and the Italian returned as the No. 1 player in the ATP Rankings, lifting majors at the Australian Open and the US Open in 2024. In the doubles, former champs Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic pair bounced back from an opening loss at the prestigious season finale by saving a match point to down second seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 4-6, 7-6(6), 10-8. The Dutch-Croatian pair crucially held their nerve across the business end of the match to improve to 1-1 in Mike Bryan Group. Koolhof and Mektic’s Match Tie-break win ensured that Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten became the first team to seal a semi-final spot in Turin. Heliovaara and Patten earlier improved to 2-0 on their ATP Finals debut by defeating Purcell and Thompson 7-6(3), 7-5. –IANS