Who wants to tell Alex de Minaur what his record is against Jannik Sinner?
It seems like a cruel moment to remind him. The Australian is coming off one of the most important, and necessary, wins of his career, over Taylor Fritz on Thursday. De Minaur said that his close loss to Lorenzo Musetti earlier in the week had sent him “to a dark place.” After a series of tight defeats and finish-line fadeouts in recent years, the Musetti match was the straw that threatened to break de Minaur’s competitive back.
But all of that could be forgotten, at least temporarily, when he turned around and beat the higher-ranked Fritz for his first win in six tries at the ATP Finals. It also came with a surprise bonus: A trip to the semifinals in Turin.
Which takes us back, unfortunately for de Minaur, to his record against Sinner. It’s 0-12. In those 12 matches, he has won just two sets. Sinner is, to state the obvious, a very bad matchup for him. The taller and rangier Italian has the edge in pace with every shot, from serve to return to forehand to backhand. Sinner-De Minaur pits stellar offense vs. stellar defense, and in tennis today, offense wins championships. Throw in the fact that Sinner is playing at home, where he is the defending champion, and is riding a 29-match win streak on indoor hard courts, and this one only looks more lopsided.
