Seventh time’s a charm – Sinner overcomes Medvedev to win the trophy in Beijing
Jannik Sinner claimed his ninth career title, and finally earned his first win over Daniil Medvedev, on Wednesday in Beijing.
Jannik Sinner, Beijing 2023 – © Andy Wong/AP/SIPA
Jannik Sinner finally broke through against longtime nemesis Daniil Medvedev on Wednesday as he earned his first victory in seven tries against the world No 3, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2) to lift the China Open trophy at the Olympic Green Tennis Center in Beijing on Wednesday afternoon.
“Thanks for making me a much better player,” Sinner said to Medvedev after the final. “We have been practicing a lot, trying to beat you.”
The victory caps an historic week for Sinner, who will rise to a career-high ranking of No 4 in next week’s ATP rankings after becoming the third ATP player to defeat the top two seeds en route to a title in 2023.
Sinner, 22, knocked off two-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals, 7-6(4), 6-1, and didn’t surrender a break point in the final against Medvedev as he improved to 49-13 on the season and improved to 9-3 lifetime in ATP finals.
History made
Sinner will become the highest-ranked Italian man in the ATP rankings in more than 47 years on Monday, since Adriano Panatta in August of 1976.
“It means a lot for sure,” Sinner said. “Me and my team we practice a lot, we we have high expectations obviously, but it makes the work feel even more fun because you want to improve. For me the ranking right now is not so important at the moment. I know that that I have to improve many things but let’s see in the future – for sure I’m happy to be in a position where I am and obviously there’s still a lot of work to do.”
Sinner hit 28 winners against 24 unforced errors and was invincible on serve. He faced only one break point and won 81 percent of first-serve points (41 of 52) and 74 percent of second-serve points (17 of 24). He needed to be that good as Medvedev saved all five of the break points he faced to force the Italian into two tiebreaks.
“Congratulations to Jannik and his team,” Medvedev, who had defeated Sinner in their previous two finals in 2023, said. “Third time lucky, as we say, third final this year between us. You managed to win it [by playing a] great match. You’re an amazing player and you’re having an amazing season. Hopefully we can have many more finals in big tournaments like this and [I will] try to fight you to fight for more.”
Sinner, ranked No 7, beat Daniel Evans (6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-3), Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka (6-2, 6-0), Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (6-4, 3-6, 6-2) and Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, the top seed (7-6 (4), 6-1) earlier in the tournament.
In the previous rounds of the Beijing tournament, Medvedev, ranked No 3, beat American Tommy Paul (6-2, 6-1), Australian Alex De Minaur (7-6 (3), 6-3), Frenchman Ugo Humbert (6-4, 3-6, 6-1) and German Alexander Zverev, the No 8 seed (6-4, 6-3).
