De Minaur made his debut at the season-ending championships on Sunday but it didn’t go as planned. The Australian earned an early break against home favourite Sinner but things quickly unraveled.
The world No. 1 stormed through to win 6-3 6-4 in what was his first match on home soil this year. It was a welcome homecoming for Sinner, who has had a season of highs and lows.
The 23-year-old has won two Grand Slam titles and reached the top of the rankings in 2024. But he also twice tested positive for a banned substance and spent months waiting for a verdict.
After it was ruled he “bore no fault or negligence”, the World Anti-Doping Agency appealed the decision. De Minaur was asked about his rival’s doping saga and took the opportunity to share his true feelings about Sinner.
“I mean, honestly I’m just a tennis player. I’ve got no bearing in making these types of decisions whatsoever. I’m sure everything will happen when it needs to happen,” he replied.
“As for Jannik, I can only say on what I know of him as a person. Even though he’s kicked my a** seven times now, he’s a great guy.
“We shared a lot of moments on the court together. Him and his team, I’ve got a lot of respect for.”
The world No. 9 also praised Sinner’s game style, adding: “there’s a lot of areas of his game which I think he’s constantly improved.
“I would say one thing that for me really stood out was his returning. I mean, his returning, he’s so long and he covers the court so well that it’s very hard to get any easy returns off your first serves.”
De Minaur will now face Daniil Medvedev in his second group stage match on Tuesday after Medvedev also lost his opening tie. Sinner will meet Taylor Fritz in the evening session.
The Aussie will likely need to win to keep his hopes of reaching the semi-final alive. Meanwhile, Sinner will look to go one better after finishing as the runner-up 12 months ago.
Content Source: www.express.co.uk