De Minaur falters for 13th time against Sinner: 'For me to take the next step...'

(Getty/Clive Brunskill)

When you're up against a four-time major champion and one of the best players in the world, letting "genuine chances" slip by just isn't going to cut it.

After saving two break points at 15-40 in the opening game, Alex de Minaur was dealt one of those "genuine chances" as he described in his press conference to pull away early with a 0-40 advantage for a 2-0 lead. Instead, world No.2 Jannik Sinner came up clutch as per usual.

As the first semi of the ATP Finals continued to progress, there were no breaks of serve until the pressure finally tolled when the Aussie was broken in the 11th game.

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Winning eight of the last 10 games of the match, it was Sinner who flexed his muscle once more, extending his one-sided streak against de Minaur to 13-0 by registering a 7-5, 6-2 victory in one hour and 53 minutes.

"There was a lot of good stuff in that first set. I think one of the key elements was I dropped my percentage of first serve in the crucial stages, which allowed him to jump on top of me in that five-all game," said de Minaur, who recorded 52 per cent of first serves. "He came up with some pretty good shots.

"Look, I played him many, many times. Even though a lot of people may not think so, I know how to beat him. It's just not that easy to do. You've got to hit the ball very hard, very flat, very deep and very close to the lines. It is something that I try to do, but it's obviously not the easiest thing to do.

"I do think for me to have genuine chances, I need to serve well throughout the whole match. My serve dropped a little bit and could have been better."

Post Roland-Garros, when he suffered a shock defeat from two sets up against Alexander Bublik, the 26-year-old shared that he was "burnt out" and required a reset both physically and mentally.

Now, without Davis Cup Finals commitments for the first time since 2021, de Minaur revealed how "extremely important" it is to utilise the extra time off before the 2026 season.

"I've played a lot the last five or so years. Obviously, Davis Cup has been always a huge priority in my calendar," he said. "Yeah, it's nice to have some time to switch off. I'm going to need that because obviously, we saw this year how I went through a tough stage. I don't want to do that in the biggest tournaments of the year.

"For me to take the next step, it's just being fresh, not putting as much pressure on myself, and ultimately just stepping up in the bigger tournaments. That's what it's going to take for me to jump from where I've been the last two years to potentially in the top five and pushing for bigger and better things."

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Having achieved the world No.1 ranking and claimed the biggest trophies that the sport has to offer, Sinner complimented de Minaur's mental fortitude as the base for him to help take that next step and follow the Italian's path.

"As I've played a lot lately against him, I feel like he has improved week after week, to be honest," said Sinner. "Also, today, the backhand was much stronger than maybe in Vienna [at the end of October in the semi-final]. "He is getting a better and more consistent player, high levels. He can now play this high level not only for half a set, but he goes basically all out.

"At the end of the day, top five, I think he can make it because physically he's very, very strong. Great mentality. We saw it also here in this tournament: from a very tough loss, he comes back and he wins against Taylor. It's just a very mental game. Mentally, he is very, very strong... I wish him the best of luck."

Only second behind Carlos Alcaraz for most wins this year (56), de Minaur's consistency helped him achieve an equal career-high of world No.6 earlier in the season.

However, his only top 10 win in 2025 came on Thursday against Taylor Fritz, and has won one title (Washington) for the year.

Sinner, who is the defending champion in Turin, awaits the winner between Alcaraz and Felix Auger-Aliassime to contest the final on Monday morning (AEDT).

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