World number one Jannik Sinner on Monday lifted his third ATP Masters trophy as the world number one beat Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 to win the Cincinnati Open.
The Italian top seed warmed up for next week's US Open in style, biding his time in a hard-fought first set before breaking the match open in the second.
Tiafoe, whose game faded after losing the first-set tiebreaker, still made an impression.
The American, who moves into the ranking top-20, saved three match points before Sinner claimed his 15th career title.
Cincinnati is the fifth trophy of 2024 for the 23-year-old Italian, who began the season with an Australian Open crown in Melbourne.
"I'm happy, this was a very difficult week," Sinner said. "It was tough mentally but I tried to do my best.
"Frances and I were both tired from the (Sunday) semi-finals and there was a lot of tension.
"I'm just glad I kept my level in the important moments. I handled the situations on court well.
"There were many ups and downs, but that's normal. At the big moments of each match I played well."
Massive in the massive moments ??@janniksin is a perfect 5-0 in finals in 2024, and becomes the youngest #CincyTennis champion since Andy Murray in 2008! pic.twitter.com/xqOxf3gfM3
Sinner heads to the 26 August start of the US Open as a major favourite, standing more than 2 000 points clear of world number two Novak Djokovic.
"I'm confident, but it's important to be able to recover to be ready for New York," the Italian said afterwards.
"That is the main goal of this US Open swing. "I'm happy to be in the position I'm in. I have the hunger to keep playing. I hope to show good tennis in New York."
Against Tiafoe, Sinner hit 29 winners, including 13 aces and broke the American twice from eight
Read more on news24.com
news24.com
