Sinner, who on Saturday crushed Casper Ruud in the semi-finals, beat Fritz with the set numbers 6-4, 6-4 on the hard court and won the ATP playoffs for the first time. It gave him well over NOK 53 million in prize money.
The final win alone was worth over 24 million.
In October, Sinner won the “Six Kings Slam” show tournament in Saudi Arabia. That victory earned NOK 65 million. Thus, the last month has given many kroner into the account.
The 23-year-old has had his real breakthrough as a top player on the ATP tour this year. He started 2024 by winning the Grand Slam tournament Australian Open before also winning the US Open. Sinner reached the semi-finals at Roland-Garros and the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.
At the same time, doping charges have hung over him. In March, he tested positive for a banned substance, but the star player was acquitted in August.
On Sunday, he had a dream ending to the season with victory in the ATP final. It was a replay of the US Open final, where Sinner beat Fritz in three straight sets. The American was a long way from matching his Italian opponent in Turin as well.
Sinner was flawless in his own serve and punished Fritz’s mistake. The first break came at 4-3 in the first set, while in the second set he took the lead 3-2.
Before Sunday’s duel, Sinner had only lost seven of his last 86 matches and ten of his last 101. Fritz thus had a formidable task ahead of him.
Sinner lost last year’s ATP final against Novak Djokovic. This year, an injury stopped the Serb from participating. Djokovic has a total of seven titles in the ATP playoffs. Closest to him among active players is German Alexander Zverev, who has two. Zverev lost the semi-final to Fritz on Saturday.