By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday November 8, 2019
Jannik Sinner put forth a showstopping display of power tennis to battle past Miomir Kecmanovic in Milan.
Photo Source: Getty
Jannik Sinner became the first Italian man to ever win a match at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan on Tuesday. On Friday the 18-year-old Italian stormed past Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic to become the first Italian to reach a final on home soil since 2006.
Sinner’s 2-4 4-1 4-2 4-2 victory places the World No.95 next to last year’s runner-up Alex de Minaur in a final that will sure to generate plenty of passion at the Allianz Cloud in Milan.
“It’s unbelievable,” Sinner said. “I never had this kind of feeling so I’m very happy.”
Sinner saved eight of nine break points and gradually took the match away from Kecmanovic. The Serb started steadily but could not cope with Sinner’s easy power and clutch serving in the final three sets.
“I don’t know,” Sinner said, when asked how he handled the pressure. “I just tried to serve a little better and tried to be a little bit more aggressive. I tried to be even a little bit more solid and I think I’ve done a great job.”
Sinner was overjoyed when he clinched the victory, but he still had the presence of mind to pick up the headset and sing happy birthday to his coach Riccardo Piatti, who turned 61 today.
De Minaur stormed out of the gates against his good friend Frances Tiafoe, then overcame a rough ride in the third set to prevail 4-2 4-1 0-4 4-2.
The Aussie is undefeated this week in Milan and he improves to 8-1 lifetime at the NextGenATP Finals. Last year De Minaur fell to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final.
The top-seeded World No.18 converted all four break points he saw and improved to 2-0 at ATP level against Tiafoe.
“It’s never easy playing someone like Frances,” De Minaur said. “He has immense firepower and he’s never going to give up. I didn’t have my best third set, but I was able to bounce back and come up clutch in that last game.”