Jannik Sinner defeats American Frances Tiafoe to capture fifth title of the year in Cincinnati

Jannik Sinner continued his sizzling season in Cincinnati on Monday night, capturing his fifth title of the year with a 7-6 (4), 6-2 victory over Frances Tiafoe in the final of the Masters 1000 event.

The world No. 1's title haul this year now includes one Grand Slam title (Australian Open), two Masters 1000 crowns (Miami and Cincinnati) and two ATP 500 titles (Rotterdam and Halle).

He also extends his flawless record in finals this year to 5-0.

And since dropping the first two sets of the Australian Open final to Daniil Medvedev, he’s now won his last 11 sets in a row in finals.

JANNIK SINNER IN FINALS IN 2024 (5-0):
d. Medvedev in Australian Open F, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3
d. De Minaur in Rotterdam F, 7-5, 6-4
d. Dimitrov in Miami F, 6-3, 6-1
d. Hurkacz in Halle F, 7-6 (8), 7-6 (2)
d. Tiafoe in Cincinnati F, 7-6 (4), 6-2

Sinner’s victory over Tiafoe on Monday is even more impressive given his arduous road to the final over the weekend.

He edged world No. 6 Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals on Saturday, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, after having to serve to stay in the match at 4-5 in the second set, and then survived world No. 4 Alexander Zverev in the semifinals on Sunday, 7-6 (9), 5-7, 7-6 (4), after being forced to serve to stay in it twice in the third set, at 4-5 and 5-6.

Then, once he got through the 55-minute first set against Tiafoe, the floodgates opened, as he got the first break of the match in the opening game of the second set en route to a 2-0 lead, broke a second time for 4-1, then served out the victory a few games later.

Both players finished with the same number of unforced errors, 24 to 24, but Sinner had more than twice as many winners, 29 to 13.

“It was a very difficult week, tough week,” Sinner said afterwards.

“You know, I’m very happy about today’s match. It was very tough mentally. He had such an amazing run here and I just tried to do my best today. We both were quite tired from yesterday, but I’m very glad about my level of play, especially in the important moments.”

It was a banner week for Tiafoe—not only did he record his milestone 200th career win in the quarterfinals, but with his nail-biting semifinal victory over Holger Rune on Sunday night, he reached the biggest final of his career. A former No.10, the American will now return to the Top 20 when the new ATP rankings come out.