Sinner cruises in finals opener

Jannik Sinner (above) got his bid for a first ATP Finals title underway with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Alex de Minaur on Sunday as former champion Daniil Medvedev lost his head during his defeat to Taylor Fritz.

Italian Sinner delighted supporters in Turin with a comfortable win over Finals debutant De Minaur to move to first in the Ilie Nastase Group.

The world No 1, who hadn't played since winning the Shanghai Masters last month, only had one brief scare when his serve was broken early in the first set. But he quickly recovered to rattle off four straight games and take the opening set to 5-2 before closing it out with his first set point.

Sinner closed out a routine victory in emphatic fashion with a perfect service game and basked in the applause of his home fans after smashing an ace to finish in style.