Jannik Sinner opened his ATP Finals title defence in Turin with a commanding 7-5, 6-1 victory over a hampered Félix Auger‑Aliassime in front of a rapt home crowd. The Italian second seed was clinically effective on serve and barely gave his opponent a foothold after the first set.
Auger‑Aliassime started aggressively and pushed Sinner all the way in a competitive opening set, getting within two points of a tiebreak before tweaking his left calf at 6-5, 30-0. The Canadian called for treatment twice in the second set and managed just one game as movement and timing went. Sinner sealed the match with an ace and topped the Björn Borg Group as he pursues the year-end world number one spot.
Sinner’s run underlined his recent supremacy on indoor hard courts — this was his 27th straight win on the surface — and continued his strong record against top-10 opponents, having not lost to a top-10 player other than Carlos Alcaraz since a defeat by Andrey Rublev in August 2024, a tournament where he played two matches in a single day. In Turin he won 24 of 27 first-serve points, didn’t face a break point and was taken to deuce only once in 10 service games.
Sinner and Alcaraz remain the contenders for the year-end No. 1 ranking in Turin. To retain the top spot, Sinner must defend his title and rely on Alcaraz dropping a group match or failing to reach the final. Alcaraz began his campaign with a straight-sets win over Alex de Minaur in the opposite group.
Earlier, American Taylor Fritz impressed in the Jimmy Connors Group with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti. Fritz, last year’s runner-up to Sinner, was dominant on serve — he surrendered just three points on serve in the second set, two of them in the final game. Musetti, whose place in the event was confirmed only after Novak Djokovic withdrew, squandered four early break opportunities and began to tire as several of his service games went to deuce (seven of nine).
Fritz admitted he was a bit nervous early and allowed Musetti to dictate play, but said he settled down and played better as the match progressed.
In doubles action, Britain’s Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski began with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Marcelo Arévalo and Mate Pavić. No all-British pair has ever won the season-ending title; Salisbury previously lifted the trophy with American Rajeev Ram in 2022 and 2023. Britain’s Henry Patten and Finland’s Harri Heliövaara also opened with a win, beating Americans Christian Harrison and Evan King 6-4, 6-4.
The opening day in Turin combined high-quality singles serving, an unfortunate injury setback and upbeat doubles scoreboard results as the ATP Finals get underway.
