What a dream debut: Sinner enchants Turin!

What a turbulent day it was for Jannik Sinner. The man from Sexten, who is known to be a substitute at the ATP Finals in Turin, did not know until shortly before 17 p.m. whether he would play the group game against Hubert Hurkacz that evening or not. The reason: Matteo Berrettini, actually a regular starter at the glamorous tournament in Piedmont, wanted to try everything to be able to compete after his abdominal muscle injury. But after a training session the Roman had to raise the white flag - and the way was clear for Sinner , who quickly went to the Pala Alpitour, where he was to experience a memorable evening. The Puster native won against his good friend Hurkacz (ATP 9) 6:2, 6:2 and caused great enthusiasm.

Jannik Sinner has already played a few finals this year, including against Hurkacz in Miami, which he lost. But the 20-year-old has never experienced such an atmosphere as on Tuesday evening. The audience was thrilled with every point from the South Tyrolean, shouts of “Jannik, Jannik, Jannik” repeatedly echoed through the hall.

Jannik Sinner entering the Pala Alpitour: The hall in Turin was a cauldron. © ANSA / ALESSANDRO DI MARCO

Sinner thanked the audience and put on a gala performance. The youngster, who is otherwise known for his cool manner, gave free rein to his emotions unusually often. As was the case during the winner's interview on the pitch, where he not only spoke strong words to Berrettini, but also fought back tears. Sinner is back in the top 10 In the “Red Group”, which also includes Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev, Sinner maintains his chance of reaching the semi-finals – even if that will be extremely difficult. He has to win against world number 2 Medvedev on Thursday and at the same time hope that Zverev loses to Hurkacz. Otherwise, Zverev, Medvedev and Sinner would each have two wins - and the South Tyrolean would be out because he only played two games instead of three.

Hubert Hurkacz (right) congratulates Sinner on his victory. © ANSA / ALESSANDRO DI MARCO

But Sinner's efforts have already paid off: With his win against Hurkacz, the 20-year-old was credited with 200 world ranking points and will therefore move back into the top 10. A fantastic day for South Tyrol's exceptional athlete! First nervous, then great Jannik Sinner was nervous at the start of the match. In the first two games, Hurkacz set the tone, which is why the Sexten native had to fend off a break ball immediately. After that, Berrettini's replacement was in the game - and how!

Driven by a frenetic audience that excessively cheered for every Sinner point, the Pusterer took the service from his counterpart in the third game and then showed real nerves when he fended off three breakballs and made it 3-1. This extremely long game (almost 12 minutes) was the crux of the first section, which Sinner brought home with the fourth set point at the very end despite a wobble - 6:2!

There was a similar picture at the beginning of the second sentence. Sinner struggled at first, but soon took over and let Hurkacz dance to his tune. The Sextner's varied game repeatedly caused the Pole to despair. With two breaks, Sinner finally took the edge off his opponent and converted his first match point after 1.25 hours.

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What a dream debut: Sinner enchants Turin!

He once again put on a really big show. Jannik Sinner won the match against Hubert Hurkacz in Turin on Tuesday evening with impressive aplomb and promptly achieved great success in his first game at the ATP Finals.

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