TURIN: Reigning champion Jannik Sinner extended his indoor hardcourt winning streak to 29 matches with a 6-3, 7-6(7/3) victory over American Ben Shelton in their dead rubber round-robin match at the ATP Finals in Turin on Friday.
There was a relaxed atmosphere in the Inalpi Arena as the Italian had already secured top spot in the Bjorn Borg Group and a semi-final against Alex de Minaur on Saturday, while Shelton had been eliminated after losing his two previous matches.
Shelton was broken in the opening and closing games of the first set, unable to take advantage of a break point at 2-1 down while Sinner was always capable of pulling out an ace at the crucial time, hitting two in that fourth game to hold serve.
The American put up more fight in the second set, serving to love on three occasions, rescuing a match point at 5-4 down and forcing Sinner into a tiebreak before the Italian sealed the win.
Sinner’s chances of ending the year as world number one evaporated on Thursday when Carlos Alcaraz completed a clean sweep in the Jimmy Connors Group with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Lorenzo Musetti, leaving little at stake against Shelton apart from his unbeaten run.
Before Sinner and Shelton emerged, Alcaraz was presented on court with the ATP year-end world number one trophy, which the Italian won last year, and the pair may yet do battle one last time in 2025 in Sunday’s final.
Earlier on Thursday, when Alcaraz and Musetti were shown on the giant screen as they arrived at the Inalpi Arena, there were huge cheers for the Italian and boos for the Spaniard. However, when they walked onto the court for their showdown, the Spaniard was greeted by warm applause.
Alcaraz took time to settle and hit a total of 21 unforced errors, while Musetti more than held his own in the opening set. He won two service games to love before being broken in a nerve-jangling final game of the set that stretched to over 11 minutes.
After that, it was business as usual for Alcaraz as he broke Musetti in successive service games to race into a 5-1 lead.
Even though the crowd loudly cheered every point won by Musetti, he had no answer once the Spaniard upped his game.
“This tournament is really important for me,” said Alcaraz. “I’m excited about qualifying for the semi-finals.”
Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2025
