Jannik Sinner and Filippo Volandri stand on the roof of the world. © APA/afp / THOMAS COEX

Legendary Sinner ends season with Davis Cup triumph

Jannik Sinner has made a name for himself with the entire 2024 season. He won two Grand Slams, three Masters 1000 titles, the ATP Finals - and now the Davis Cup. On Sunday, he gave Italy the decisive point thanks to his victory over Tallon Griekspoor.

24 November 2024

From: leo

The starting position was the same as in the previous year, because Italy had won the first singles match with Matteo Berrettini. Now it was up to Sinner to avoid a decisive double and put the lid on it. And just like in 2023, the Sextner faced a player against whom he had an impeccable record: Last year, Alex De Minaur was on the other side of the net, this year it was Tallon Griekspoor. After all, the Dutchman had won a set in the last two duels. He was unable to do that this evening - despite a strong performance. Sinner won 7:6 and 6:2. The salad bowl thus goes to Italy for the second time in a row. And like last year, the South Tyrolean is the father of this triumph.

Griekspoor hit 25 aces in the semi-final against Jan-Lennard Struff. And the Dutchman's service against Sinner was also flawless. The world number one had a lot of trouble reading and returning it at the beginning, which was not least due to the fast playing surface. The 1-year-old bagged his service games in no time. Sinner, on the other hand, had to fend off two break points straight away. He only managed this because he showed all his defensive skills against the aggressive Griekspoor.

Sinner in his own league

This moment served as a wake-up call, as Sinner then appeared highly focused. As neither player left anything to chance on their own serve, the match went into a tiebreak. Sinner earned two mini-breaks (one of them with a fabulous stop ball) and won the first set.

While there had not been a single break in the first set, fans saw three in a row from the score of 1:1. Sinner first took his opponent's serve, but he responded with two beautiful passing shots. When Griekspoor then managed to hit the shot of the match, the momentum seemed to have finally spilled over to the other side. The Sextner, however, wanted nothing to do with it, stayed with it and actually got the lost break back. Griekspoor's resistance was thus broken. In inimitable style, Sinner pulled ahead to 5:2 and shortly afterwards converted his fourth match point.