World number one Jannik Sinner won his fifth title of the season after beating American Frances Tiafoe in straight sets in the Cincinnati Open final on Monday.
The top seeded Sinner, who missed the Paris 2024 Olympics due to tonsillitis and has been battling a hip injury, saw off Tiafoe 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 in one hour and 37 minutes in the men’s singles event in Ohio.
“It was a very difficult, tough week. I’m very happy about today’s match,” the Italian said. “It was very tough mentally.
“[I] had such an amazing run here, and I tried to do my best today,” he added. “We both were quite tired from the semi-finals. We both felt a lot of tension, but I’m very glad about the level I played, especially in the important moments.”
The 23-year-old became the youngest men’s champion in Cincinnati since Britain’s Andy Murray won the tournament in 2008 at the age of 21.
Sinner started the year off on a winning note by securing his maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January. Shortly after, he secured huge victories in Rotterdam, Miami, and Halle.
The Italian will now turn his attention to the final Grand Slam of the year, the U.S. Open, which commences next Monday at Flushing Meadows.
“Now, for sure, it’s important to recover, to be ready for New York,” he said.
“I’m very happy to be in a position where I am and just trying to keep going mentally with this hunger to keep playing. This is our main goal here for this US swing.”
Tiafoe, on the other hand, will rise to world number 20 in the world following his second-place finish in Cincinnati.
Meanwhile, in the women’s singles final, two-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka dispatched American Jessica Pegula 6-3, 7-5 in straight sets.
Sabalenka was too dominant for Pegula, whose nine-match unbeaten run came to an end, dropping only nine points on serve and hitting 10 aces as she secured her sixth WTA 1000 title.
“I want to thank my team—we’ve been through a lot, but we never stopped working, never stopped improving ourselves, and I’m really happy to have you by my side,” Sabalenka said.
Ahead of the much-anticipated US Open, Sabalenka, who cruised through Cincinnati without dropping a set, will move into the No. 2 spot in the ranking.
