Jannik Sinner got his title defence at the ATP Finals off to a solid start before his home fans with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Félix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal on Monday in Turin, Italy.
To also claim the year-end No. 1 ranking. Sinner needs to win the season-ending event for the top eight players and hope Carlos Alcaraz doesn't reach the final.
No. 8-ranked Auger-Aliassime appeared slowed by a left calf issue that arose near the end of the first set. He was twice treated by a trainer during the second set.
"It was very tough until 6-5 and then he had a physical issue," said Sinner, referring to when he broke the Canadian's serve to close out the first set.
Sinner won the title in Turin last year without dropping a set and hasn't lost at the event since the 2023 final to Novak Djokovic.
There was a sign held aloft in the crowd that labeled Sinner "Italian pride" and Sinner was serenaded with a soccer-like chant of "Ole, ole, ole. Sin-ner, Sin-ner" during his on-court post-match interview.
"It's a special tournament and place for me," he said.
Sinner has won all four of his meetings with Auger-Aliassime this year, including a U.S. Open semifinal and the recent Paris Masters final.
Sinner and Alexander Zverev lead the Bjorn Borg group with one win each after Zverev beat Ben Shelton on Sunday.
The top two finishers in each group advance to the semifinals.
Sinner won 89 per cent of the points when he put his first serve in, claiming 32 of those 36 points.
"I have a very difficult group, with people who serve really, really strong," Sinner said. "You need to remain focused practically the entire match because the moment you concede a break it's tough to come back."
Earlier, Taylor Fritz beat late entry Lorenzo Musetti
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