It has not taken the 23-year-old Italian long to make good on those intimations of sporting immortality and, after winning two grand slam titles already this season, the world No 1 added another feather to his cap on Sunday with a first victory at the season-ending ATP Finals.

With his polished 6-4, 6-4 victory over Taylor Fritz, in what was a repeat of September’s US Open final and also a replica of his group-stage win over the big-serving Californian by the same score, Sinner completed a flawless week’s work, earning a $4.8m (£3.8m) cheque for his troubles.

He becomes the first Italian champion in the history of the season-ending showpiece, and the first player to win the eight-man event without dropping a set since Ivan Lendl in 1986. Sinner finishes the season with eight titles in all, just as Lendl did, and his record of 70 wins and just six defeats is also uncannily close to the Czech’s 74-6 record that year.  

That Sinner was able to achieve it all in front of a raucous and adoring home crowd only magnified the sense of occasion. If Fritz was under any illusions about the enormity of the task facing him, they were dispelled as the opening game, when his opponent stroked a sumptuous backhand winner to claim his first point. The deafening clamour with which even that minor success was greeted offered a foretaste of what lay ahead for the American, who has now been consigned to defeat by Sinner in the two biggest matches of his career. 

Sinner, who had never previously won a senior professional title in his native country, follows in the footsteps of Andy Murray, whose 2016 victory in London marked the last time the ATP Finals were won by a player competing on home soil. Following his Australian and US Open victories, the Italian joins Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as only the third player in history to compete a clean sweep of the sport’s three biggest hard-court prizes. He finds himself in ever more illustrious company.

“I just tried to play the best possible tennis I could in every single moment,” said Sinner after his 26th win in 27 matches. “The crowd helped me a lot. It was for sure one of the most special weeks I’ve had on a tennis court.

“It’s a very nice way to finish off an incredible season. A lot of wins, a lot of titles.”

Where he goes from here is another matter. The controversy surrounding two failed drug tests earlier this year has not gone away, with the Court of Arbitration for Sport set to hear the World Anti-Doping Agency’s appeal against his exoneration by an independent tribunal, on the basis of contamination, early next year. With the Australian Open starting on 12 January, however, Sinner will almost certainly embark on his first defence of a grand slam title with the affair still hanging over him. 

For the moment, though, such considerations can wait. This was another clinically efficient performance from Sinner, who has now won each of his past four meetings with Fritz, his only loss coming when they crossed swords for the first time three years ago in Indian Wells. It has been another milestone tournament for Fritz, who advanced to the final with wins over Daniil Medvedev, Alex de Minaur and Alexander Zverev – his fourth straight victory over the German world No 2 – and though he cut a disconsolate figure as he sat at courtside afterwards, his disappointment did not prevent him from offering a clear-headed appraisal of Sinner’s excellence.

“What I was really impressed with today was how he served,” said Fritz, who watched 14 aces whistle by and was unable to convert his only break point of the contest. “He served absolutely lights out. So many lines. 

“He placed the serve great. He took a lot of risk on the second serve as well. I think that was probably one of his main game plans, to not let me attack his second serve. He did a great job of not only mixing up the second [serve] but also being very aggressive with it.”

It meant the onus was on Fritz to hold, and his determination to do so was evident in the seventh game, when he staved off the first two break points of the match in style. Even when a loose backhand followed by a double fault landed him in further trouble, Fritz was equal to the challenge, defending brilliantly to stay in the game. But Sinner was not to be denied, forcing an error with an immaculate return before caressing away a drop shot.

Not for the first time in a week when the Italian painted the town orange with his smooth-striking excellence, the stadium was shaken to its foundations by chants of “Olé, olé, olé, olé, Sinner, Sinner”. 

There would be another fevered explosion of joy at 2-2 in the second set, when Fritz made a dog’s breakfast of a drop shot to hand his opponent another opening. Once again, the American fought off the initial danger only to come a cropper, eventually blasting a forehand long to concede a second and ultimately decisive break. 

While Fritz must be content with a career-high ranking of No 4 and a memorable run to the title round at Flushing Meadows, where he became the first American man since Andy Roddick in 2009 to reach a grand slam final, Sinner’s rise continues apace. Simone Vagnozzi, who coaches the Italian alongside Darren Cahill, ranked the victory alongside his countryman’s two grand slam wins. 

“For sure it was an amazing year.,” said Vagnozzi. “We started with a victory in Australia and we finished with the trophy here. It was really long year, stressful year, but we are happy with everything we achieved, first two slams for Jannik, first win here in Italy with the ATP Masters.”

More will surely follow. Among Sinner’s chief rivals, Djokovic will seek to come back stronger next season after failing to win a major for the first time since 2017, while the likes of Fritz, Zverev and Medvedev will also hope to have a say in the destination of the big prizes.

For now, though, only Carlos Alcaraz – winner of the French Open and Wimbledon, and architect of three of Sinner’s half dozen defeats in 2024 – looks capable of thwarting the Italian’s seemingly inexorable rise. Alcaraz, that is, and the panel of Cas arbitrators who will convene in Lausanne, Switzerland, in the coming months to decide whether the man of the moment should be banned for up to two years.

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On the court, the Italian world No 1 has become a model of consistency, not least on hard courts, where his 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Fritz, the American 12th seed, means he has now won 35 of his 37 matches this year. The foundations for a breakout season were laid with a maiden grand slam title at the Australian Open in January, since when Sinner has won a tour-leading six titles. It has been a historic campaign for the 23-year-old, who becomes the first Italian man to win the US Open, and the youngest male player in the open era to win on hard courts at Melbourne Park and Flushing Meadows in the same calendar year. 

Yet for many, Sinner has become an embodiment of inconsistency, given the speed and secrecy with which he was cleared of wrongdoing after a banned substance was detected in his system six months ago. So many players have lost months and even years of their careers in similar circumstances, but here was Sinner, claiming his second grand slam title just 19 days after news broke that he was inadvertently contaminated with clostebol, an anabolic steroid, while receiving massage treatment from Giacomo Naldi, his former physiotherapist.

Granted, on a purely sporting level it is hard not to admire the poise with which Sinner has negotiated his campaign in New York. Since dropping a set against Mackenzie McDonald in the opening round, he has been largely flawless, keeping his head while the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic were losing theirs as he rose above the bonfire of the seeds elsewhere in the draw. Having dispatched Tommy Paul, Daniil Medvedev and his friend Jack Draper in straight sets to reach his first final in New York, Sinner had too much for Fritz on a day when the 26-year-old Californian struggled to find his best tennis until it was too late. 

Yet it is easy to forget that Sinner has had a lot more time to come to terms with the situation than the rest of the tennis world. He has been dealing with the fallout for months now; it would be strange if he had not found a way of coping. Darren Cahill, one half of Sinner’s coaching team alongside Simone Vagnozzi, admitted on the eve of the tournament that the episode had taken a significant mental and emotional toll on his charge. What was not clear at that time was whether Sinner would be liberated or distracted by the public revelation of the news. A fortnight on, we have the answer.

“It was and is still a little bit in my mind,” said Sinner. “It’s not that it’s gone, but when I’m on court I try to focus [on] the game, I try to handle the situation in the best possible way.

“Me and my team and the people who are close to me, they know what I’ve been through in the last months. It was not only one week before the tournament, it was months. 

“Obviously, it was very difficult for me to enjoy [tennis] in certain moments. How I behaved, or how I walked on the court in certain tournaments before, it was not the same as I used to be. So whoever knows me better, they knew that something was wrong.

“But during this tournament, slowly I really started to feel a little bit more how I am as a person. It doesn’t really matter how or what the result was, this tournament, for sure, helped me a little bit.”

For Fritz, playing his first grand slam final, it could hardly have mattered more. It has been 21 years since an American man last won a major, and from Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce to Matthew McConaughey, Dustin Hoffman and Jon Bon Jovi, the stars were out in force to support their countryman as he attempted to emulate Andy Roddick’s 2003 triumph at Flushing Meadows. But the tennis that carried Fritz past a pair of multiple grand slam finalists in Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev, and then earned him an emotional semi-final win over US team-mate Frances Tiafoe, proved elusive.

The tone was set in the opening game, where a bungled bounce smash cost the big-serving American an instant break. Already Sinner was setting exacting standards from the back of the court, and although Fritz immediately recovered to get back on serve, it was not long before the Italian’s superior ball-striking told again. At 3-3, Fritz followed a wayward forehand with a double fault to gift his opponent two break points, and Sinner snatched the opportunity, forcing the American off the baseline with a blizzard of punishing groundstrokes before applying the coup de grâce with a drop shot. With his first serve percentage languishing at 38%, Fritz was broken again as Sinner wrapped up the set. The tactical conundrum facing the American was clear.

“He’s the best player in the world right now,” said Fritz. “[When] my plan A is not working, the plan B that I fall back on would normally be just like bringing everything in, being a little bit safer, grinding it out. That works, along with my serve, against a lot of other players. 

“But when I try to bring it down, not be as aggressive, then he’s just going to bully me too much. It was tough that my plan A wasn’t really working for me until the third set.”

In short, Fritz was in deep trouble. In the final game of an otherwise service-dominated second set, Sinner raised his level to break with a laser-like backhand down the line. He had made just one unforced error. When Sinner held two break points for a 4-2 lead in the third, the finish line was in sight.

Fritz, however, was not done. Encouraged by his opponent’s failure to punish an inviting second serve, he outlasted Sinner to win a 21-shot rally, then drilled a pair of unanswerable forehands to hold. Suddenly, he was on a roll, pulling Sinner opponent hither and thither with a drop-shot-and-lob routine, nailing an overhead, blasting his way to the net to slot home a volley. Sinner double-faulted to surrender his serve, and in short space Fritz was serving for the set.

Finally, the home crowd had something to shout about. But amid the mayhem that ensued, Sinner remained the coolest head in the house. He broke with a sledgehammer forehand and a teasing drop shot that left Fritz off balance at the net, then powered through his next service game to move within touching distance of the title. In the final game, as Fritz laboured to force a tiebreak, Sinner produced some brilliant defensive play. Unable to find a way past the scrambling Italian, Fritz was hoisted by his own petard, a final despairing forehand dipping into the net.

With Sinner’s victory, men’s tennis enters a new era. This season is the first since 2002 that none of the “big three” of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have won a major. Instead, Sinner and Alcaraz – the champion in Paris and Wimbledon – have carved up the honours between them. 

“It is a bit different, for sure,” said Sinner. “It’s something new, but it’s also nice to see new champions, nice to see new rivalries.”

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The 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 victory that carried Sinner, the world No 1, into a first US Open final was not a matter of strategy and deliberation, so much as the survival of the fittest. Draper, the British 25th seed, who had reached his maiden grand slam semi-final without dropping a set, showed an abundance of quality and guts – a little too literally in the latter case, given his repeated vomiting – but it was Sinner who coped better with the clammy, airless conditions in Arthur Ashe Stadium, recovering from a jarring mid-match fall to prevail in three hours and three minutes.

The contest turned on a gruelling second set in which Draper, not for the first time, was forced to battle his body as well as his opponent. Drenched in sweat and gripped by anxiety, the 22-year-old vomited three times, and although he courageously clung on to his serve throughout, Sinner raised his level in the climactic tiebreak to establish an unassailable lead. 

It was a bitter blow for Draper, who has worked so hard to strengthen his body after the catalogue of injuries that marred his early career, but admits that the anxiety he feels in big moments often manifests itself physically. After an early exchange of breaks, the Briton matched Sinner virtually step for step until 5-5 in the opening set, where an angst-ridden struggle on serve culminated with a double fault. Sinner served out the set with aplomb, and Draper said afterwards that it was in the next game, punctuated by a string of punishing rallies as the Italian pushed for an early break, that his condition began to deteriorate in earnest. 

“At 5-5 [I the first set] we had a really tight game,” said Draper. “Sometimes in the matches you feel an anxious build-up in certain moments, and I definitely felt like that was a big game. I threw in a couple of double faults, I think it was deuce a few times, and then when I came out for the first game in the second set, he was obviously trying to get the break first game. I managed to hold him off, but was definitely starting to not feel great in that moment.

“Even though I generally feel pretty relaxed and stuff, I definitely felt a little bit more excited today, a few more nerves around. I’m definitely someone who’s quite an anxious human being. I think when you add all that together sometimes, I do feel a bit [of] nausea on court, and I do feel a little bit sick when it gets tough.”

No player is immune to nerves, and Draper will undoubtedly learn from the experience. Sinner demonstrated his own strength in dealing with adversity by recovering from a huge scare in the ninth game, when he tumbled backwards after scrambling to retrieve a ball deep behind the baseline, jarring his left wrist. While it did not prevent him from winning the point with a thumping forehand pass, medical staff were on overtime at the ensuing changeover, a doctor administering medication to Draper as a physio worked on Sinner’s wrist. 

“The physio loosened it up very fast on court, so after I felt OK,” said Sinner, who grimaced as he received treatment. “Then after it went away by playing, which is good. Let’s see how it is tomorrow, when it’s cold, [if] it’s going to be a different feeling. Hopefully it’s nothing to be concerned about. I’m quite relaxed because, if it’s something bad, you feel it straightaway a bit more. Let’s see how it is.”

A fortnight that began with Sinner addressing the revelation that an independent tribunal cleared him of wrongdoing after he twice tested positive for a banned substance earlier this year, will now conclude with him seeking to win his second major of the season, following his maiden title at the Australian Open in January. In Sunday’s final, the 23-year-old will face Taylor Fritz, the American 12th seed, who later defeatedhis compatriot Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 to become the first homegrown US Open finalist since Andy Roddick in 2006. Fritz, who has never previously advanced beyond the last eight of a major, said it was a challenge he would relish.

“I’ve always played well against Jannik, I think we’re one and one [in previous meetings],” said the 26-year-old Californian, who defeated Sinner in Indian Wells three years ago before the Italian returned the favour at the same venue last spring. 

“It’s been a while since we played, but last time he got me in three at Indian Wells. He hits the ball big, he’s a very strong ball-striker, but I feel Iike I always hit the ball really nice off of his ball. I think I typically play well against him.”

Fritz was not always at his best against Tiafoe, chiefly because his fellow American would not allow it. Having won the first three games – perhaps not altogether unexpectedly, given that his only loss in seven previous meetings with the 2022 semi-finalist came eight years ago – Fritz abruptly found himself confronted by a very different player. As Tiafoe seized the initiative by reeling off six of the next seven games, electrifying the crowd with his ebullient shot-making, the match began to assume a fresh complexion. Fritz hit back to level, breaking late in a service-dominated second set, but when Tiafoe broke early in the third to move ahead by two sets to one, the match appeared to be on his racket. 

Serving at 4-5 in the fourth set, Tiafoe appeared to be closing in on a famous victory. Instead, he frittered away two game points with a pair of double faults, butchered a forehand, and tamely netted a drop shot to hand Fritz the set. With the contest even and cramp setting in, Tiafoe was a double break down in the decider before he knew what had hit him. The match was over in all but name.

“I was the better player for sure tonight,” said a disconsolate Tiafoe. “In the fourth set, I just had some in-and-out cramps. I felt like my body just kind of shut down on me.” 

Draper would no doubt sympathise. 

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The on-court interview that followed Novak Djokovic’s latest Australian Open victory did almost as much to explain the 36-year-old’s continued stranglehold on the men’s game as the 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Taylor Fritz that preceded it. 

No sooner had the Rod Laver Arena crowd been treated, if that is the right word, to the singular sight of Nick Kyrgios emerging to conduct the post-match pleasantries, than Djokovic asserted himself. “I need a mic, thanks man,” he said, relieving Kyrgios of his microphone and, in an instant, realising a cherished dream of chair umpires the length and breadth of the tennis world by rendering the Australian bad boy temporarily silent.

“Good to see you man,” said Djokovic, who will face Jannik Sinner, a 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 winner over Andrey Rublev, in the semi-finals. “Looking good in that booth, but looking better here, hopefully with a racket also soon. We miss Nick. Come on guys, show him some love.”

As a wave of applause broke out, and Kyrgios shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, you half wondered whether we would hear from the 28-year-old Canberran again. He was eventually furnished with a mic of his own, but not before Djokovic – who earlier blew a mid-match kiss to Kyrgios as the injured star watched from a courtside commentary booth – had stolen the show. Whether wielding a racket or a microphone, the Serbian world No 1 remains the sport’s alpha male.

After a typically incisive appraisal of how he had subdued Fritz despite an unusually poor conversion rate on break points – Djokovic capitalised on just four of 21 but, as he reflected, “managed to break him when it mattered” – the Serb promised he would introduce Kyrgios to the much-discussed tree in Melbourne’s royal botanical gardens that he says makes him feel “grounded”.

“What you’ve got to do is take off your shoes, climb the tree [to] the highest point, and hang upside down, on one of the highest branches, for 33 minutes and three seconds,” the 24-time grand slam champion told Kyrgios. “Then you’re going to win a slam.”

He might as well have been addressing the entire locker room. Over the past 10 days, Djokovic has struggled with a wrist injury, a viral ailment and some recalcitrant opponents, of whom Fritz was the latest. Nothing has seriously threatened to derail his bid for an 11th title at Melbourne Park, and in all likelihood nothing will. 

Fritz, seeded 12th and able to draw confidence from the experience of pushing Djokovic to five sets in Rod Laver Arena three years ago – which is more than most can say, even if the Serb did suffer a mid-match abdominal injury – brought plenty to the party. He slammed a mighty 63 winners. He saved eight break points in the first set and seven in the second. And in sweltering conditions, he forced Djokovic to run and run. 

But when the American fired down an ace to level at a set apiece, Djokovic changed gears, regaining the lead with a near-perfect 38-minute passage in which he hit 14 winners while making just one mistake. Despite an exchange of breaks midway through the fourth, the pressure on Fritz remained unrelenting, the outcome effectively sealed when the Californian double-faulted to drop serve for a second time.

“He’s so fast, he doesn’t really miss a lot of balls,” said Fritz. “He definitely makes you really work and hit quality shots to win points. It’s also just the lack of free points he gives you.  

“I never just hit a second serve and he just misses it. That just doesn’t happen. Even when I’m going after my second serve hitting second serves that are consistently like 100, 105 miles per hour, jamming him, he still just puts it on the baseline.  

“It’s definitely tough when you don’t get those free points and you have to work for every single point.”

Fritz is not the first to feel that unrelenting pressure. Djokovic has now won 33 straight matches at the Australian Open, equalling a record held by Monica Seles. This was also his 15th grand slam win over a top-20 player since turning 35, eclipsing a mark previously shared with Roger Federer.

The Serb has had to work harder than usual over the first five rounds – the 15 hours and nine minutes he has spent on court so far is a personal record – but he will have two days to rest before facing Sinner. Few would be surprised if the tournament culminates with the Serb eclipsing all-comers for a 25th time. 

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Mannarino did not play badly; far from it. Few players have a more instinctive feel for the geometry of a tennis court than the mercurial southpaw, and his mastery of line and length meant the baseline exchanges were never less than competitive. Djokovic, however, was relentless, his physical and mental intensity off the charts as he refused to allow an opponent with a trio of five-set wins in his legs a moment’s respite. 

By the time two sets had rolled by, Mannarino was reduced to incredulous laughter, miming his predicament to his team at the changeover as he made two circles with his fingers to form a pair of spectacles. Two games later, when he finally held serve for the first time to make a belated impression on the scoreboard, the Frenchman was afforded a rapturous ovation. Djokovic, meanwhile, was impassive – until Alison Hughes, the British chair umpire, started the shot clock before the din had died down, prompting a furious reaction from the 10-time champion.

“The tension in the third set, it was so big, whether he’s going to win a game or not,” said Djokovic after advancing to a 58th grand slam quarter-final to equal Roger Federer’s record. “The crowd wanted him to win a game and be in the match. I almost felt like it’s good to give away the game, just to be able to reset and refocus because the tension is growing as the match progresses without him winning a game.  

“I think, of course, it’s tough for him, but also for me to be able to not think about that, not think about the triple bagel.

“It was a very clean overall performance, against always a tricky opponent who plays a kind of a cat-and-mouse type of tennis. Has a very flat backhand, uses his talent and his touch very well, puts you in a very uncomfortable position on the court, makes you work.”

That much was evident when one punishing rally early in the second set left Djokovic bent double on the baseline, clutching at his shin and almost retching as he struggled for breath. The Serbian world No 1 has been suffering from a viral infection over the past week and, as he ran down the shot clock, stalling for time, Mannarino sensed an opportunity. Djokovic had won eight straight games up to that point; a break would have offered Mannarino an opportunity to reset, to get back on serve, to be something more than a bystander at his own execution. 

Now was the time for a flash of French brilliance, a party piece like the astonishing drop volley Mannarino produced against Shelton, a stroke so heavily cut that, as it spun off violently at a 180-degree angle, he gleefully turned his back, confident in the knowledge the point was won. Djokovic has a few party pieces of his own, however, and he responded to the danger with one of his favourites: a precise 124mph ace down the centre line that left Mannarino flailing at thin air. The Frenchman would not see another break point, the chief interest from thereon lying in whether Djokovic would go on to claim the first 6-0, 6-0, 6-0 win at a major since Sergei Bruguera humbled Thierry Champion by that score at the French Open in 1993.

“I thought maybe I would this year feel slightly more relaxed, for lack of better term, or maybe less tension,” said Djokovic, who would claim an all-time record were he to win a 25th grand slam title a week from now. “But it’s not. It is as it always was: very high intensity. 

“You can see it even today. I was 6-0, 2-0 up. It was a long game, and I was like going on with discussions, heated discussions, with my box. I always look for the best performance from myself.”

Having raised his level significantly since the opening two rounds, in which he was taken to four sets first by Dino Prizmic, a Croatian qualifier, and then by Alexei Popyrin, the Australian world No 43, Djokovic will face Taylor Fritz of the United States for a place in the last four. Fritz, the 12th seed, defeated last year’s finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 to set up a repeat of his third-round meeting with Djokovic in Rod Laver Arena three years ago, when the Serb suffered an abdominal injury before prevailing in five dramatic sets.

“I think that I have a lot more level to bring than I’ve previously brought against him,” said Fritz following his maiden top-10 win at a major. “Hopefully, I can play another match like today.”

The winner of that match will play either Jannik Sinner or Andrey Rublev, respectively seeded fourth and fifth, who advanced to the last eight in contrasting style. 

Sinner, who has won two of his last three meetings with Djokovic and has yet to drop a set in Melbourne, claimed a 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Russia’s Karen Khachanov.

Rublev was forced to take a more circuitous route to victory, prevailing 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-0 against Alex de Minaur to prolong Australia’s 48-year wait for a home champion. 

“The match was basically changed when he started to get a little bit more fatigued and he started to realise that he probably had to go after it a little bit more, and adopted a more aggressive game style,” said De Minaur, adding that his downfall owed nothing to the pressure of domestic expectations.

“He executed that and I wasn’t able to expose his movement. Nothing about pressure. Nothing about expectation. None of that.”

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With a 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Taylor Fritz of the US, Djokovic moved into the 47th grand slam semi-final of his career at the US Open, eclipsing a record he previously shared with Roger Federer. 

Should the 36-year-old defeat Ben Shelton of the US, a player at the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of age and experience, another historic milestone will hove into view: the chance to win a 24th grand slam title and equal Margaret Court’s all-time record. 

Shelton, a 20-year-old Atlantan ranked 47 in the world and playing his first full season on the ATP Tour, defeated Frances Tiafoe, the 10th seed, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-2.

It has been a remarkable debut campaign for Shelton, who only used his passport for the first time at the turn of the year, but made his first trip abroad a memorable one by reaching the Australian Open quarter-finals. Shelton has now won 50% of his grand slam outings, an outstanding statistic for such a young player, even if the sample size is limited to 20 matches. Naturally, though, that achievement pales into insignificance in comparison with Djokovic, who has won an extraordinary 88.21% of his 407 outings at the majors. 

“Obviously, it’s a huge opportunity every single time I step out on the court at this age, at this stage of my life,” said Djokovic. “I don’t know how many more opportunities I’ll get, so I am trying to enjoy it as much as I possibly can.”

Djokovic’s enjoyment inevitably came at the expense of his opponent’s misery. Fritz’s progress to the last eight could hardly have been more emphatic – four straight-set wins, 49 out of 50 service games won – but it quickly became clear that an afternoon of intense heat and humidity would follow a wearyingly familiar pattern for the Californian. Fritz was broken in each of his first two service games and, while the rallies were competitive, the score-line quickly became lopsided. 

Struggling with his serve and his consistency, Fritz made 51 unforced errors, over-pressing from the baseline as he sought in vain to avert an eighth successive defeat to Djokovic. By the end, the Serb’s chief source of consternation was an overexcited fan who distracted him as he was broken while leading 4-3 in the third set. No lasting damage was done, however, Fritz immediately relinquishing another break with a flurry of errors before Djokovic closed out the win in two hours and 35 minutes.

“Obviously, Novak being Novak, he’ll make me feel like I’m serving worse than I am,” said Fritz. “But in other matches I wouldn’t get as punished for missing so many first serves, I can maybe get away with it. With him, I have to serve better than 50%, and I have to hit my spots better. That’s just how it is.”

Shelton, whose 149mph serves and huge forehands have been the toast of the town these past 10 days, would do well to take heed. The charismatic southpaw had service problems of his own in the third-set tiebreak against Tiafoe, double-faulting twice in a row to gift Tiafoe the initiative. Shelton’s response to the danger, as the man he has likened to a brother held a set point at 7-6, was straight out of the Djokovic playbook. The youngster ripped a blazing forehand return winner, just as the Serb famously did twice to save match points against Roger Federer in US Open semi-finals, and never looked back.

“It’s one of my biggest weapons, my serve,” said Shelton. “So to lose two points the way I did was unfortunate and frustrated me. Down set point, I needed to let a little bit of that frustration out and kind of just let it go. I had been all set so uptight about things.

“There was just so much stress. I kind of needed a release and it ended up working out for me.”

Djokovic, who said beforehand he was looking forward to watching the all-American showdown, will no doubt have been suitably impressed. He is alive to the danger that lies ahead on Friday.  

“Ben Shelton has been serving some bombs this tournament,” said the Serb. “When his serve is on, he’s a very difficult player to play against, especially because he’s a lefty as well.”

With more history beckoning, you sense he will be ready.

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For two players whose forte lies in pounding huge serves and ripping forehands, it was hardly an environment in which to showcase their best tennis, and unsurprisingly the outcome was largely determined by their handling of the conditions. That Rublev came through 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 to reach the third Masters 1000 final of his career – and second in three years in Monte Carloo – was down to the 25-year-old Russian’s belated realisation that, for all the frustration of breaking three times only to drop the opening set, it was a day when serving came with no guarantees.

“The first set was tough, because when you are three times up with a break and you’re losing your serve and then you lose the set, you feel really, really mad,” said Rublev, who will face Holger Rune in Sunday’s final after the Danish sixth seed likewise came from behind to defeat Jannik Sinner 1-6, 7-5, 7-5. 

“But then I started to think that the conditions are really tough. Most of the breaks that I lost, Taylor played really aggressive. 

“So then I started to think, ‘The conditions are like this.’ I also broke him many times and I had chances, so I just tried to keep playing, to focus on my serve even more. I did this in the second set, and I was able to turn around the situation. 

“The third set was the same story. He broke me, and I tried to think that it was the conditions, that I would have chances. I had chances before, I broke him in the second set many times, so I will have at least one chance to break him back. Then I broke him straightaway.”

At that point, after Rublev had broken with a searing backhand down the line to level at 2-2, the light rain that had been falling steadily throughout suddenly became heavier. Rublev raced through his next service game, holding to love with the help of two massive forehands, before the players were forced off court for almost two hours. 

As fortune had it, play halted one game before a change of balls was due, meaning Fritz was obliged to play his opening service game with the same wet, heavy balls that had been in use when they stopped. Rublev was the quicker to settle, defying a blustery wind to break as he concluded a 34-shot rally by chasing down a drop shot to land a backhand plum on the baseline. Fritz would win only one more game.

“I don’t think it was ideal for me to come back from the break and be the one serving with the damp clay, you know, heavy balls from when we were playing when it was raining,” said Fritz, who was never able to reproduce the kind of clean, clinical ball-striking that had earned him victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas, the double defending champion, the previous day. 

“I think it was very tough to come and play that first game and then go straight into a ball change.”

The second semi-final followed a similar pattern, with Sinner taking the lead only to struggle to get the ball through the court following a rain delay. Unlike Fritz, however, who by his own admission won the opening set partly because the conditions forced him to adopt a safety-first approach, Sinner was at his imperious best early on, overpowering Rune from the baseline and motoring through his service games. 

A lull was inevitable at some point, and it came at the start of the second set. He nudged a backhand wide to lose a seesaw service game, Rune held to consolidate the advantage, and Sinner, now trailing 3-0, was never the same after the suspension of play that followed.

“It changed when we went out of the court and with the rain, and after was much slower, for sure,” said Sinner, who fell behind 5-2 on the resumption of play.

“After the rain delay, I had a difficult time.”

The 21-year-old nonetheless fought his way back into contention, levelling the second set at 5-5 after saving two set points, and with Rune beginning to look tight, a straight-sets win began to seem possible. Instead, the confrontational 19-year-old went into Medvedev mode, putting a finger to his lips to silence the baying Italians in the crowd in a manner that, predictably enough, succeeded only in inciting them further. 

Rune seemed to thrive on the discord that followed, ignoring the pleas of Carlos Bernardes, the chair umpire, not to get involved, repeatedly putting a finger to his ear as the jeers rained down. His game once again clicked into gear and, before long, he was level. Sinner fought tooth and nail down the stretch, fending off five break points before he was undone by a pair of unforced errors in the final game. 

Sinner offered a frosty handshake at the end. No doubt he was still seething after an incident in the eighth game, where Rune, not for the first time, almost struck him after lashing out at a ball that had been called long. Sinner, forced into evasive action, cut an animated figure in the minutes that followed, orchestrating the crowd as he navigated a tricky hold. He declined to discuss his opponent’s antics afterwards. 

“I don’t want to comment,” said Sinner, whose reticence spoke volumes.

Rune, who will contest the second Masters 1000 final of his career following his win over Novak Djokovic in Paris last November, was unrepentant.

“My relationship with the crowd was awesome, if you ask me,” said the teenger. “You had so much energy on the court, which is fun. I guess if you ask the crowd, I think they would prefer that than two guys looking down and doing nothing.

“I thought it was a great match. I would probably say not level-wise, but one of the best tennis matches that I have played in my life.”

Rune may have to play another tomorrow: Rublev, who will be desperate to win a first Masters title, survived two match points to defeat him when they last met at the Australian Open in January.

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Better known for his thunderbolt serve and power off the ground than for the more artful point construction normally associated with the surface, Fritz, the American world No 10, is rapidly learning to translate his game to the red dirt, as he demonstrated with an emphatic 6-2, 6-4 victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas, the double defending champion, at the Monte Carlo Masters.

Fritz, who becomes the first American to reach the last four on the Cote d’Azur since Vince Spadea in 2003, dominated the second seed from the outset, reeling off the first four games in just 17 minutes and calmly reasserting his authority when Tsitsipas belatedly roused himself to claim his only break of the match. 

The Greek, who has struggled with a shoulder injury since losing to Novak Djokovic in the final of the Australian Open, was far from his fluent best. He shanked a succession of forehands, landed barely half his first serves, and won only 45% of the points behind his second delivery. As the title slipped away, his dismay was evident in the increasingly bewildered looks he cast towards his box. Yet that should take nothing away from Fritz, who remained true to his attacking instincts while making subtle tactical adjustments to prevent Tsitsipas from commanding the baseline exchanges.

“There are some people where the game plan is just as simple as make sure I’m serving well and I’m being aggressive, which is normally always my game plan, and then there are some matches where it gets a little bit more specific,” said Fritz, who will face former finalist Andrey Rublev, a 6-1, 7-6 (7-5) winner over Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff, for a place in the final. 

“Stef, for example, he’s super dangerous when he’s running around, he’s in that backhand corner and he’s controlling with his forehand. So a big key was going big [with the] backhand [down the] line and stuff like that, to get him out of that corner. 

“[It’s] probably a shot I wouldn’t normally hit so much. I love to go backhand cross with people, but if I did it with him, he would get around and he would be able to dictate.”

Fritz’s performance was all the more impressive for the fact that he struggled to hit the high notes on serve at times, particularly in the first set, where he landed just 44% of his first deliveries. His self-belief never wavered, though, even when Tsitsipas crushed a forehand winner to convert his only break point of the match, levelling the second set at four games apiece. Helped on his way by a dismal service game from Tsitsipas, who promptly produced a trio of forehand errors to concede a second successive break, Fritz responded with his best service game of the afternoon, pounding down four first deliveries as he sealed victory with an ace. 

For Tsitsipas, it was the latest chapter in what has been a frustrating period.

“This injury on my shoulder didn’t really give me opportunity to build up a momentum and rhythm,” said Tsitsipas. “I have been thinking about it, how I could have gained points playing in Acapulco, perhaps playing healthy in Indian Wells and Miami [where he won just one of his three matches]. 

“These are the tour tournaments that I was actually aiming for, because these are big tournaments, they can give you a lot of points to add to your confidence and keep building on the race to Turin, which is important to me.”

Tsitsipas was followed out of the tournament by Daniil Medvedev, the third seed, who was beaten 6-3, 6-4 by Holger Rune, the Danish sixth seed. Medvedev, who played late into the night to defeat Alexander Zverev on Thursday, saving two match points along the way,  conceded that fatigue may have contributed to a subdued performance while reserving warm praise for Rune’s performance.

“Maybe, but also Holger played very good,” said Medvedev. “You can never know. That’s tennis. Sometimes you play a night match and you have to be ready for the next one, so I’m definitely not going to complain about this.”

One person who did complain was Zverev, who branded the Russian “one of the most unfair players in the world” after the Russian took a toilet break, approved by the chair umpire, midway through the deciding set. Medvedev did not mince his words when asked about the German’s comments.

“Toilet? Well, I wanted to pee. What does he want me to do?

“Sascha is living in his own world,” said Medvedev, before adding with a smile: “I already had like five players in the locker room coming to me and saying, ‘Come on, Daniil, why are you so unfair?’

“Sascha, when he loses, we can find maybe 25 interviews of him where he does say some strange things.

“When he says someone is not fair play, you’re like, ‘OK, great. Look at yourself in the mirror.’”

Rune, meanwhile, will face Jannik Sinner in the last four after the seventh seed saw off Lorenzo Musetti, conqueror of Djokovic the previous afternoon, 6-2, 6-2.

“Whoever can take the baseline is probably going to be the one who has more chance,” said Rune. “Sinner is a big hitter, and if he gets the time to hit the ball, he’s very dangerous. So I’m going to try and not let him do that.”

With Fritz awaiting, Rublev will no doubt be thinking much the same.

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If Fritz, the big-serving American world No 10, was under any illusions about the scale of the challenge as he met the human whirlwind that is Carlos Alcaraz for the first time, they were dispelled after the first two minutes of their Miami Open quarter-final. That was all the time Alcaraz needed to snatch an early break by pouncing on a short second serve to slot away a precise backhand return winner.

Fritz, one of the most accomplished servers in men’s tennis, is unaccustomed to such indignities. Like Alcaraz, the big Californian had previously failed to hold just twice at the tournament. Even so, another reality check was not slow in coming. 

In his next service game, Fritz toiled for eight sinew-stretching minutes to secure a first hold. It was a miniature masterpiece, full of superb shot-making from both men, with no quarter given and the baseline exchanges played at a ferocious pace. As Alcaraz showcased the full range of his repertoire, Fritz was bullied, battered and finessed into all corners of the court until, finally, after surviving five deuces, he conjured a magical topspin lob – his second of the game – to get on the scoreboard. 

A high bar had been established and, for the remainder of the set, Fritz was forced to play at the top of his game merely to stay in touch. It made for a compelling spectacle and, although Alcaraz pressed home his advantage to seal the opener, Fritz had every reason to feel positive going into the second. Instead, history repeated itself, some monstrous ball-striking from Alcaraz ensuring the American paid the price for an early double-fault. Broken to love, Fritz would never again be in serious contention.  

“He came out really hot,” said Fritz following his 6-4, 6-2 defeat. “I got the hold, but I was like, ‘Wow, if this is the level, then this is going to be really tough.’

“But I felt like that wasn’t actually the level. He did come out extremely hot and played that game really good, but I felt like I settled in after that. 

“For the rest of the set, I was in some service games, and I was holding pretty comfortably. But there were a lot of shots that I hit to him that I was expecting to be safe on, that I got punished on.

“For how young he is, he just has all the tools. He can come to net, he can drop shot you, he can lob you, he’s incredibly fast, he has all the power, his forehand is good, his backhand is good. It’s very rare to see someone so young so developed in their game, and not really have anything that they need to work on so much. 

“He has tons of different ways to play, and he can incorporate tons of different game plans to play different players, because he has so many tools to win a match.”

The Spaniard, the champion in Indian Wells earlier this month and now two wins away from defending the Miami Open title he won against Casper Ruud last year, has yet to drop a set over the sunshine stretch, a level of dominance eclipsed only by six-time champion Novak Djokovic. If he is to hold on to the No 1 ranking he reclaimed from Djokovic with his win in Indian Wells, Alcaraz must retain the title. To judge by Fritz’s appraisal of the Spaniard’s talents, which he suggested are more difficult to contain than even those of Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, there is every possibility he will do so – a semi-final meeting with Jannik Sinner notwithstanding.

“The level of the first three games was absolutely unbearable,” said Fritz. “He was hitting clean winners off of 110-mile-an-hour second serves [that] I was hitting into his body. I’m stepping up and crushing backhands cross, and he’s going open-stance backhand line winners off of that.

“That wasn’t the level for the rest of the match. I was able to settle in much more, and he wasn’t doing that the whole match. But he obviously possesses that level, and for those first couple of games, it was pretty overwhelming.

“I definitely felt like I had more breathing room against [Djokovic, Federer and Nadal] than in this match. I think that it’s different game styles. Novak will have these long rallies, but he’ll kind of slowly get you out of position and overwhelm me. I still feel like I can hang in these rallies for a long time and get more chances to attack.

“I’d go back to the first couple games of the match. He just [hit] winners and shots that hurt me off of a lot of shots that people normally aren’t hurting me off. 

“Definitely less [breathing space than against Djokovic, Federer and Nadal]. I just felt he was more offensive and pressed me a lot more.”

Alcaraz hardly wants for inspiration but, if additional impetus were required, it is hard to imagine a more flattering comparison.

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Will there be another tale of the unexpected this year? With Djokovic once again unable to enter the United States, Nadal still working his way back from injury and Federer enjoying his retirement on the ski slopes of Switzerland, the outlook is encouraging. The sense of opportunity is all the more palpable for the fact that the chief contenders all arrive in the Coachella Valley with questions to answer about their form, fitness or track record at the event.

First quarter

Take Carlos Alcaraz, the top seed, who has the chance to reclaim the No 1 ranking from Djokovic if he can land a first title. On the one hand, the 19-year-old has achieved some good results since returning from the hamstring injury that kept him out of the Australian Open. But having won a title in Buenos Aires last month and then advanced to the final of the Rio Open, Alcaraz aggravated the muscle again and was subsequently forced to pull out of Acapulco.

The Spaniard, who looked sharp in practice against Frances Tiafoe, insists he has made a full recovery. The proof, as he sets his sights on a swift return to top spot, will come in a potentially tricky opener against Australian powerhouse Thanasi Kokkinakis.

“I feel great,” said Alcaraz, who refuses to see himself as the title favourite at his first hard-court event since last November. “I took some days off and it was really good for me. Right now, I’m ready.

“For me, winning the tournament and being No 1 again is a really good goal, and I really want to go for it.”

Second quarter

To do so, Alcaraz may have to go through Fritz, the defending champion and fourth seed, whom he will face in the semi-finals if the seedings hold. The early months of 2023 have been a mixed bag for the 25-year-old Californian, who was beaten early at the Australian Open but went on to win his first title of the season in Delray Beach last month, either side of semi-final appearances in Dallas and Acapulco. The alarming nature of Fritz’s exit at the latter event, where he narrowly avoided hospitalisation following a gruelling three-set battle with Tommy Paul in fierce humidity, was hardly ideal preparation for his return to the scene of last year’s breakthrough win against Nadal. 

Fritz will open his title defence against his 20-year-old countryman Ben Shelton, a surprise quarter-finalist at the Australian Open, in a contest that will not want for firepower. Assuming he negotiates that potential banana skin, he is seeded to meet Alex De Minaur in the round of 16 and either Holger Rune or Jannik Sinner in the quarters. Like Fritz himself, all are recent title winners. If the American makes his scheduled appointment with Alcaraz, he will have earned it.

Third quarter

What of Casper Ruud, the third seed? After the highs of last year, when he made a trio of big finals at Roland Garros, the US Open and the ATP Finals, Ruud has endured a slow start to this season, winning just two of his four matches so far. The Norwegian, who took most of February off to recover from the abdominal problem that hampered him during his shock second-round loss to Jenson Brooksby at the Australian Open, could have wished for an easier first opponent than Diego Schwartzman. The recent illness of his father has weighed heavily on Schwartzman but, while the Argentinian’s results have understandably suffered, the fact remains that he has won five of his eight meetings with Ruud – including a straight-sets victory in Indian Wells two years ago. 

With Ruud under pressure to rediscover the form that carried him to the Miami Open final last spring, Daniil Medvedev, his prospective quarter-final opponent, is the obvious favourite to come through the third quarter of the draw. The Russian, seeded fifth but playing tennis befitting of a world No 1, is targeting a fourth straight title following a remarkable run of success in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai, where he ended Djokovic’s unbeaten start to the season. Yet Indian Wells has not been a happy hunting ground for the 27-year-old, who has only once made it to the round of 16. Medvedev, who will open his challenge against Brandon Nakashima, the rising American who won his first ATP title in nearby San Diego last autumn, is taking nothing for granted. 

“New tournament, new story,” he mused in Dubai as he contemplated his prospects of extending a run of 14 straight wins. 

Fourth quarter

Then again, with only six victories from 11 previous outings in the California desert, perhaps a new narrative is just what Medvedev needs. Particularly since, should he make it through to the last four, he would potentially face Stefanos Tsitsipas, the second seed, who has got the better of him in their two most recent meetings. What an occasion that would be, after Medvedev used his Dubai winner’s speech to take a thinly veiled swipe at Tsitsipas over his snarky aside about Andrey Rublev at the ATP Finals, where the beaten Greek remarked that Rublev “managed to prevail with the few tools he has”.

“Hopefully [Rublev] can beat this guy many, many times – and I wish this for you,” said Medvedev, who is a close friend of his compatriot.

If the sixth-seeded Rublev can pick up from where he left off in Dubai, a first opportunity to fulfil that wish could come as soon as the quarter-finals. Tsitsipas, who has struggled with a shoulder injury in the weeks since his barnstorming run to the Australian Open final, has not played competitively since his early exit in Rotterdam three weeks ago. For now, he is just happy to be back on court.  

“It has been a while since I stepped on a court and played a match, so it is great being back,” said Tsitsipas, who opens against Jordan Thompson, the Australian world No 87. 

“I might not be at the best with the way I am feeling on the court right now, but I am pleased to have the opportunity to compete.”

With Tsitsipas potentially vulnerable and Rublev, a semi-finalist last year, in a solid run of form, much could depend on the Russian’s second-round meeting with Jiri Lehecka, the rising Czech who upset him at the Qatar Open last month. 

Nor should the claims of Norrie, the 2021 champion, be overlooked. The British 10th seed, who avenged his defeat to Alcaraz in the Argentina Open final by pipping the Spaniard to the post at the Rio Open, opens against Taiwan’s Tung-Lin Wu. 

Also lurking, in what feels like the most open section of the draw, is Frances Tiafoe, who offered such a stirring demonstration of what he can on a home-soil hard court by reaching the semi-finals of last year’s US Open. Tiafoe opens against another American, the 73rd-ranked Marcos Giron, ahead of a projected fourth-round meeting with Tsitsipas.

Semi-final predictions: Alcaraz to beat Rune; Medvedev to beat Lehecka.

Final prediction: Alcaraz to beat Medvedev.

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