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World number one Jannik Sinner beat Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 at the Cincinnati Open final on Monday, showing that despite recent health struggles he will still be the man to beat at the upcoming US Open in New York.
The 23-year-old, who has been struggling over the last couple months with a hip issue and who missed the Paris Olympics due to tonsillitis, was error-prone to start the contest and came up limping after several points in the tight first set.
But he found his game in the tiebreak, absorbing the American’s powerful serve on set point. Tiafoe’s next shot sailed long as the Italian grabbed the opener.
Tiafoe, who has struggled to find momentum and wins this season, could not take advantage of his three break point opportunities in the first set and fell into a 2-0 hole to start the second from which he was never able to recover.
Sinner rifled a forehand winner up the line for a 4-1 lead in the second and completed the win with an unreturnable serve on match point.
Sinner’s triumph at the Masters 1000 event follows his Grand Slam breakthrough at the Australian Open in January and is his fifth title of the year and first at the tournament in Ohio.
Critically, he has now shown that he can win even when not 100% healthy, an attribute he may need to utilize at Flushing Meadows where defending champion Novak Djokovic and world number three Carlos Alcaraz are the other hot favorites.
“It was a very difficult week, tough week. I’m very happy about today’s match,” Sinner said in his on-court interview, “It was very tough mentally... We both felt a lot of tension, but I’m very glad about the level I played, especially in the important moments.”
Sinner added that his sole focus now is on getting ready for the year’s final major.
“Now, for sure, it’s important to recover, to be to be ready for New York,” he said, “I’m very happy to be in a position where I am and just trying to keep going mentally with this hunger to keep playing.”
Tiafoe will rise to world number 20 and will take confidence into the U.S. Open after his gutsy three-set win over Dane Holger Rune in Sunday’s semi-final.
“I’ve been struggling for a really long time so to have a week like this really means a lot,” Tiafoe said.
