Sinner kicks off ATP Finals title defense with win over Auger-Aliassime

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Jannik Sinner opened his ATP Finals championship repeat bid on a high note after sweeping Felix Auger-Aliassime in the group stage, 7-5, 6-1, on Nov. 11, 2025, in Turin, Italy.

Sinner oozed with confidence, knowing he got the upper hand after leaving a haunting nightmare on the Canadian ace.

He took Auger-Aliassime down several days ago in the Paris Masters, which was exactly what played out when they met again in the ATP Finals.

However, after the tightly contested opening set, Auger-Aliassime unfortunately got derailed by a left leg injury that needed an off-court medical timeout at the start of the second frame.

To everyone’s delight, Auger-Aliassime came back and decided to continue, but his offensive production wasn’t as crisp and efficient as his first-set outing.

For Sinner, being complacent was never in his rule book, and he wrapped up the second set in dominant fashion to make a statement.

The Italian netter showed no mercy to the injured Auger-Aliassime as he hammered every forehand opportunity while also scoring on-point drop shots to secure tons of freebie points.

Auger-Aliassime requested another medical timeout midway through the second, and that’s where Sinner started to pile up the winners, making the Canadian representative roam around the court with a combination of high clear lobs and chop drops.

“You still have to be very consistent, with a great balance on the court,” Sinner said.

“Especially mentally, it is a bit different, but at the same time it is an advantage. You have to say that. You have to use it in the right way, even if you don’t want it to be like this.”

Despite facing an injured opponent, Sinner capped off his first group-stage win with a laser-focused performance, tallying 74 total points won, including 23 on the return.

Sinner will only have a day of rest before returning to the hard court on Nov. 13 against the rolling Alexander Zverev, who dominated Ben Shelton to open his campaign.