Jannik Sinner has been unbelievably good in recent weeks, and Casper Ruud experienced how it feels to play against the best player in the world in their semi-final match at the 2024 ATP Finals.
The 23-year-old Italian player seems to be unstoppable, and the only player that stopped him since the start of the Cincinnati Open was Carlos Alcaraz, who bested his young rival in the China Open final.
Apart from that, Sinner won the Cincinnati Open, the US Open, the Shanghai Masters, and even the Six Kings Slam exhibition in Saudi Arabia. During those wins, he beat the best of the best, and he beat the best of the best also at the 2024 ATP Finals.
In the group stage, he outplayed Alex de Minaur, Taylor Fritz, and Daniil Medvedev to reach the semi-finals of the 2024 ATP Finals. His semi-final opponent was Casper Ruud, who arguably, surprisingly, made it to the semi-finals after he was able to stun a sick Carlos Alcaraz.
The difference in level of these two players was on full display in their semi-final match. From the first ball, Sinner dominated the court. He was the overwhelmingly better player, losing only three points in the first three games to lead 3-0 in just 11 minutes of play.
Ruud then managed to hold his serve to love, and in the following game, he even worked his way to two break points, leading 40-15 while down 1-3. Unfortunately for him, that was as close as he got to turning around the first set of the match.
Sinner won 10 of the last 11 rallies in the first set, proving his incredible dominance with a 6-1 scoreline that demonstrated just how good he was. The Italian player looked like he couldn’t be stopped, and that proved to be true in the second set of the match.
Initially, both players held their serves, and at one point, Ruud led 2-1 and 30-0, but like in the first set, that was the moment when things started going downhill for him. Sinner completely took over, and, supported by the home crowd, won one rally after another.
In only a little bit more than an hour of play, he was able to destroy Ruud 6-1, 6-2 to set up the final meeting with Taylor Fritz, who stunned Alexander Zverev in the first semi-final match of the day.
The two already met in the group stage, with Sinner winning the match in two sets, so the scenario from last year will repeat, as back then, the Italian met Novak Djokovic, who he played against also in the group, in the final of the competition.
This year, however, he will try to avoid losing that final the same way he lost last year. Naturally, Sinner was very happy about his win.
“Very similar circumstances and moments because we played already in the round-robin stage. Now the final again. I’ll just try to play the best I can tomorrow. Anything can happen. Just happy to be back here.”
“From last year to now, I feel like I have more experience, and I’ve grown as a player. Hopefully, tomorrow is gonna be a good day. If not, it was still a very positive week, and it’s been a very, very positive year.”
