The “amazing week” for Sinner comes at the end of a rollercoaster year.
On court, the 24-year-old has enjoyed his second-best season to date in terms of titles, winning five tournaments including a successful Australian Open defence and a maiden Wimbledon crown.
Such performances have come against a background of the three-month doping ban which he accepted in February following two positive drug tests in 2024.
It was accepted that Sinner did not intend to cheat, but the short ban led to a backlash from some fellow players.
In front of a home crowd on Saturday, there were only cheers as he produced yet another relentless display of serving.
After staving off three break points in a rust opening service game, Sinner only conceded a further four points on serve in the first set.
However, he was forced to work for his breakthrough against a resilient De Minaur, who produced a number of big first serves and several moments of inspired scrambled defence on the baseline which earned the applause of the largely partisan Italian crowd.
Such gutsy tennis helped De Minaur escape unscathed from four service games that went to deuce.
The Australian’s resistance was eventually broken in the 11th game – Sinner converting his eighth break point of the match – and from there, the home favourite put on an exhibition.
A run of seven consecutive games saw him clinch the first set and race into a 4-0 lead in the next, before converting his second match point to close out the win.
Sinner has surprisingly chosen not to play for Italy in next week’s Davis Cup Finals, so this event marks his big chance to end 2025 on a high.
Discover more from 6up.net
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.