Fatigued Jannik Sinner warms up for US Open with Cincinnati Open title

CINCINNATI – World No. 1 Jannik Sinner was feeling tired and not the best physically, but still he managed to beat Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 to win the Cincinnati Open on Aug 19 and lift his third ATP Masters trophy.

The Italian top seed warmed up for next week’s US Open in style, biding his time in a hard-fought first set before breaking open the match in the second.

Tiafoe, whose game faded after losing the first-set tiebreak, still made an impression. The American, who moves into the top 20 in the world rankings, saved three match points before Sinner claimed his 15th career title.

The 23-year-old’s victory in Cincinnati gave him his fifth trophy of 2024, which started impressively with an Australian Open Grand Slam win in Melbourne.

“I’m happy, this was a very difficult week,” said Sinner, who has been struggling over the last two months with a hip issue and who missed the Paris Olympics due to tonsillitis.

“It was tough mentally but I tried to do my best. Frances and I were both tired from the (Aug 18) semi-finals and there was a lot of tension.

“I’m just glad I kept my level in the important moments. I handled the situations on court well.

“There were many ups and downs, but that’s normal. At the big moments of each match I played well.”

The Italian now heads to the Aug 26 start of the US Open as a major favourite, standing more than 2,000 points clear of world No. 2 Novak Djokovic.

Critically, he has now shown that he can win even when not 100 per cent healthy, an attribute he may need to utilise at Flushing Meadows where defending champion Djokovic and world No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz are the other hot favourites.

“I’m confident, but it’s important to be able to recover to be ready for New York,” he added.

“That is the main goal of this US Open swing. I’m happy to be in the position I’m in. I have the hunger to keep playing. I hope to show good tennis in New York.”

Against Tiafoe, he hit 27 winners, including 13 aces and broke the American twice from eight attempts.

“I’m really tired,” Tiafoe was heard telling Sinner at the net.

“I’m not used to playing so many matches like you big guys. Well played.”

The pair duelled for nearly an hour in the opening set, with the Italian hitting 10 aces on the way into a tiebreak.

One crack in Tiafoe’s defence was enough to hand Sinner two set-point chances, with the first converted by the top seed for the early lead.

Tiafoe dropped serve to start the second set as his reserves began to run dry, and Sinner achieved a double break in a fifth game lasting for more than 10 minutes with seven deuces.

With a 4-1 lead, the world No. 1 still had to fight, with Tiafoe saving three match points to climb to 5-2 before the top seed completed his work a game later.

Impressively, Sinner is the youngest champion in Cincinnati since Andy Murray in 2008.

Tiafoe, meanwhile, will also take confidence into the US Open after his gutsy three-set win over Dane Holger Rune in his semi-final. The American has performed best at his home Grand Slam among the four Majors, making it to the quarter-finals in 2023 and semi-finals in 2022.

“I’ve been struggling for a really long time so to have a week like this really means a lot,” he said.

“You guys know how tough it’s been for me for a while, so to have a week like this is great… Let’s stay with it.” AFP, REUTERS