ATP Finals: Jannik Sinner becomes first Italian to win Finals; season-ending event to be played in Italy till 2030

Hyderabad: It was a double delight for all Italian tennis fans as the 2024 season drew to a close with Jannik Sinner becoming the first Italian to win the ATP Finals. Later, the ATP and the Italian Tennis Federation (FITP) announced that the ATP Finals will continue to be held in Italy for the next six years – until 2030.

The extension came after the organisers, the Italian tennis federation and the world tennis’ governing body decided to award the ATP Finals to Italy after Turin successfully hosted the event. Turin was initially scheduled to host the season-ending tournament until 2025.

Meanwhile, Sinner beat the USA’s Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4 in the final to lift the coveted year-ending trophy. Sinner was also crowned the year-end number one player a week ago.

Sinner has had a roller-coaster year, with two Grand Slam wins, and also testing positive for a banned substance. Sinner won the Australian Open in 2024 for his first Grand Slam title and later won the US Open and also finished the year as the number one player.

Sinner now has won 26 of his last 27 matches and ended the season with eight titles, including two Grand Slams, and an overall record of 70-6.

Sinner won all his five matches at the ATP Finals and earned USD 4.8 million for the win. The prize money is the largest winner’s prize on the men’s tour.

The Italian, who lost the championship match to Novak Djokovic last year, won without dropping a set. The last player who won the ATP Finals without dropping a set was Ivan Lendl in 1986.

Meanwhile, Fritz would have become the first winner from the USA had he won the title. Pete Sampras was the last American to win the title when he beat Andre Agassi 25 years ago.

However, the second-place finish now guarantees Fritz a career-high ranking of World No. 4. Fritz beat World No. 2 Alexander Zverev in a third-set tiebreaker in the semifinals on Saturday to accumulate points to push him to number four in the world.

Fritz will now be the highest-ranked American, since Andy Roddick who was also ranked fourth in the world in August 2007.

The success of the ATP Finals was evident as local hero Sinner and the quality of tennis drew close to 1,83,000 fans this year. All 15 sessions of the eight-day event were sold out and the prize fund reached an unprecedented USD 15.25 million.