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Italian improves to 3-5 in pair's Lexus ATP Head2Head series
Jannik Sinner made a winning start to his Nitto ATP Finals campaign on Sunday when he downed Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-4 to delight the Italian fans inside the Pala Alpitour.

The 22-year-old Italian was dialled in from the outset at the prestigious year-end event in Turin, striking his flat groundstrokes cleanly to rush the Greek. Sinner hit through the court, blasted 19 winners and successfully targeted Tsitsipas' backhand to earn his 58th win of the season after one hour and 27 minutes.

Sinner competed as an alternate in Turin in 2021, before he qualified for the eight-man tournament for the first time this year. It is just the third time an Italian player has won a singles match at the event, after Matteo Berrettini defeated Dominic Thiem in 2019 and Sinner beat Hubert Hurkacz in 2021.

The World No. 4 now holds a 3-5 record in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series, while he is 1-0 in Green Group action. Six-time champion Novak Djokovic and Dane Holger Rune are also in Green Group and face off this evening in Italy.


More to follow…

The fan club is in Turin for the Nitto ATP Finals
A changeover snack in Vienna four years ago has turned into a fan club and a friendship.

Jannik Sinner met with his fan club, The Carota Boys, who have become famous in the tennis world for showing up at tournaments in carrot costumes. The act stems from a changeover in Vienna four years ago when the Italian chowed down on a whole carrot.

“They are more famous than I am to be honest,” Sinner said at his pre-tournament press conference in Turin. “I got to know them a couple of days ago. It was a great meeting, obviously.”

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Sinner also caught up with The Carota Boys on Sunday at the Pala Alpitour, where the 22-year-old won his first round-robin match of the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals against Stefanos Tsitsipas.

“I don’t know them really, really well at the moment. I got the names, but I still got a little bit confused. It’s because they have this good-looking costume with the carota,” Sinner said. “But still it’s great to have this dedicated fan club to be honest. It’s growing, so I’m happy for them.”

Sinner will try to move to 2-0 in Green Group action on Tuesday when he plays World No. 1 Novak Djokovic. The home favourite can qualify for the semi-finals of the season finale by defeating Djokovic in straight sets, or if he triumphs in three and Stefanos Tsitsipas beats Holger Rune in the afternoon.

The Italian will hope to use the support of The Carota Boys and the Pala Alpitour crowd to continue his success at the prestigious tournament.

"The atmosphere was really, really nice," Sinner said after defeating Tsitsipas. "It's huge pleasure for me to play here in Turin, in Italy. Obviously a little bit more pressure, but I managed it really well today, so I'm happy."