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Sinner beats Tiafoe to win Cincinnati Open
The 23-year-old, who has been struggling over the last couple months with a hip issue and who missed the Paris Olympics due to tonsillitis, was error-prone to start the contest and came up limping after several points in the tight first set.
Sinner’s triumph at the Masters 1000 event follows his Grand Slam breakthrough at the Australian Open in January and is his fifth title of the year and first at the tournament in Ohio.
Critically, Sinner has now shown that he can win even when not 100% healthy, an attribute he may need to utilize at Flushing Meadows where defending champion Novak Djokovic and world number three Carlos Alcaraz are the other hot favorites.
“It was a very difficult week, tough week. I’m very happy about today’s match,” Sinner said in his on-court interview.
“It was very tough mentally... We both felt a lot of tension, but I’m very glad about the level I played, especially in the important moments.”
Sinner said his sole focus now is on getting ready for the year’s final major.
“Now, for sure, it’s important to recover, to be 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.”