TURIN: Australian Alex de Minaur pulled off a stunning 7-6(7/3), 6-3 win over Taylor Fritz in their last ATP Finals round-robin match on Thursday to eliminate the American.

De Minaur lived up to his ‘Demon’ nickname, showing energy and character as he hustled the lethargic-looking American all over the court, and after taking the first-set tiebreak, stormed to victory following an early break in the second set.

Last year’s losing finalist Fritz, who beat Musetti in his opener before losing a thrilling three-setter against Carlos Alcaraz, struggled with his normally reliable serve, and was put to the sword by the Australian, desperate for his first ATP Finals win.

De Minaur, who lost all three round-robin matches on his debut last year, was beaten by Alcaraz and then suffered a devastating defeat to Musetti having held a 5-3 lead in the final set.

“I have dealt with a fair bit of heartbreak recently, so it was good to finally get a win here in Turin,” De Minaur said.

The Australian bounced back from that loss which had left him in a dark place , while Fritz appeared heavy-footed as he lacked the pace required to deal with De Minaur’s dynamism.

De Minaur broke to lead 3-1 in the first set, and while Fritz rallied to force a tiebreak, the Australian dominated it, racing into a 4-1 lead with two mini-breaks. He began the second set in a similar vein where he broke to love and went 3-0 up.

This time there was no comeback from Fritz. He managed to save a break point at 2-5 down but De Minaur served out for the win, and after looking down and out after the Musetti match, the Australian gave himself a real chance of advancing.

SINNER SINKS ZVEREV

On Wednesday, defending champion Jannik Sinner reached the semi-finals with a 6-4, 6-3 win over two-times winner Alexander Zverev.

Sinner’s win over his German rival was not as comfortable as the scoreline suggests, with the world No 2 under pressure early in both sets.

“A very, very competitive match, a very close match,” Sinner said. “I felt like I was serving very well in important moments. I tried to play the best tennis possible when it mattered.”

The pair, the only two previous ATP Finals champions in this year’s competition in Italy, had both won their opening group matches.

Sinner faced seven break points compared to Zverev’s four but pulled out aces and drop shots when it counted.

Zverev hasn’t beaten Sinner since the 2023 US Open, being destroyed by the Italian in the semis of the recent Paris Masters, and again the German couldn’t handle the champion.

Sinner was brutal on his serve, rattling in 12 aces, and once he took the first set with his third break point of game 10 he never looked back.

“Listen, I hope to see him again — it’s as simple as that — this week,” Zverev said. “He’s not unplayable. I had many opportunities. He had one, he used the chance. This is why he’s number one in the world. He uses the chances that he gets.”

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2025