Jannik Sinner becomes the youngest to reach all Slam finals and ATP Final in a season

There are moments in tennis that feel less like stats and more like seismic shifts. What Jannik Sinner accomplished on Saturday in Turin falls squarely into that category.

With his 7-5, 6-2 victory over Alex de Minaur in the ATP Finals semifinal, Sinner booked a place in Sunday’s championship match and at the same time also stepped into tennis history.

At just 24 years old, the Italian has now reached the final of all four Grand Slam tournaments and the ATP Finals within the same calendar year. No player in the Open Era has done that at a younger age.

It’s the kind of feat that previously belonged only to Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. Now, it belongs to Sinner, too. Let that sink in for a second.

Since the ATP Finals were first staged in 1970, only two players — Federer (2006, 2007) and Djokovic (2015, 2023) — have managed this rare five-final sweep in a single season.

Sinner becomes the third, and the youngest by a full year. Federer was 25 when he first did it. Djokovic was well into his prime. Sinner, it seems, it just getting started.

There’s an eerie sense of inevitability around him right now.

In Saturday’s match, de Minaur threw everything he had into the first set, carving out triple break point in Sinner’s opening service game and holding off five break points of his own through 5-all.

But Sinner simply dialed up his level, snatching six straight games to sprint to a 7-5, 4-0 lead. From there, he never looked threatened.

The numbers behind this run are absurd. He hasn’t dropped a set at this year’s ATP Finals. That’s 18 sets in a row won at this event. He’s held serve in 59 straight service games dating back to the Paris quarterfinals. And across 30 consecutive indoor hard court matches, he hasn’t lost once.

“I’m very happy. Last event of the year, great to finish in this way,” Sinner said after the match.

“It was a very tough match today, especially in the beginning of the first set—I felt like he was serving great, very precise. In the second set I got the break very early and then my level increased, and I tried to be a bit more aggressive, which worked very well.”

“But making three consecutive finals here means a lot to me. It’s a great atmosphere for me to play tennis, and it’s a great place for me to close this beautiful season that I’ve played in.”

It’s not just the win streaks or clean serving that stand out. It’s the composure. The timing. The sense that Sinner is playing at a level that makes the rest of the field blink first.

Since the ATP began tracking service stats in 1991, only one other player — Djokovic in 2018 — has reached the ATP Finals title match without losing serve. He ended up getting broken four times in that final. Sinner hasn’t even been grazed yet.

And now, the stage is set for a blockbuster finale. Carlos Alcaraz awaits. Their head-to-head this year has been a mini-epic. Alcaraz edged him in the finals at Roland Garros and the US Open, while Sinner triumphed in Melbourne and at Wimbledon.

Sunday’s showdown in Turin will be their fifth clash in a major final this season. It’s the rubber match of a rivalry that’s already shaping the future of men’s tennis.

“I’m of course happy first of all to finish my season here, another final,” Sinner said. “[It] has been an amazing year for me. I’m looking forward for tomorrow. These are matches I look up to. These are matches I look forward to.”

If he wins, Sinner would become just the fourth man this century, after Federer, Djokovic, and Hewitt, to win the ATP Finals in back-to-back years. But even before the final ball is struck on Sunday, he’s already done something the sport will remember for decades.

And something tells me this isn’t the last record he’ll rewrite.