Jannik Sinner seals year-end top spot after reaching Shanghai Masters final
Italian Sinner comfortably saw off Tomas Machac, who beat world number two Carlos Alcaraz in the last round.
Jannik Sinner secured the end-of-year ATP number-one ranking by reaching the Shanghai Masters final with a 6-4 7-5 win over Tomas Machac.
Czech Machac was looking to follow on from his victory over world number two Carlos Alcaraz, and had got off to a positive start when he broke Sinner in the opening game of their semi-final.
However, the 23-year-old Italian, winner of both the Australian Open and US Open this year, soon broke back to level at 2-2 before closing out the set.
The second set proved a closer affair, staying on serve until Sinner broke Machac in the 12th game to clinch victory – his 64th match win of the season – in one hour and 45 minutes, becoming the first Italian to claim the year-end number-one spot in the process.
“It is something you dream of when you are a kid, when you are young, just to reach the number one, now having the year-end, it is also a different and special feeling,” Sinner said, quoted on the ATP Tour website.
“It means so much to me, obviously. This is something I could not accomplish without all the people I have around – the family and friends and also a big credit to my team.”
Sinner, chasing a seventh title of 2024, will face Novak Djokovic in the final after the Serbian beat seventh seed Taylor Fritz 6-4 7-6 (6).
Djokovic never looked in danger of seeing his unbeaten record against the American slip, despite appearing to struggle with some fitness issues during the second set, which went to a tie-break.
The world number four – aiming to become the third man to win his 100th ATP Tour title – did not face a break point as he took the opening set.
Fritz fought back to move 6-5 ahead in the second set, with Djokovic taking a medical timeout for treatment on his left hip.
Djokovic, though, battled through the pain to recover from 6-5 down in the tie-break to level after a long rally and then secured his place in the final after an attempted lob from Fritz dropped out.
“I had some issues here and there on the court physically a little bit yesterday and today, but managed to overcome it,” Djokovic said in his court-side interview.
“Taylor is in form, playing really well, particularly on this surface, so I knew this would be a big test for me.”
