The top-seeded Jannik Sinner defeated Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 on Monday to win the Cincinnati Open and raise his third ATP Masters title.
The top-seeded Italian player warmed up nicely for the US Open the next week, holding off in a close first set before taking the match to the limit in the second.
Even though Tiafoe lost the first-set tiebreaker, her play deteriorated, but she still left an impact.
Three match points were saved by the American, who now stands in the top-20, before Sinner won his 15th career championship.
Cincinnati is the fifth trophy of 2024 for the 23-year-old Italian, who began the season with an Australian Open crown in Melbourne.
“I’m happy, this was a very difficult week,” Sinner said. “It was tough mentally but I tried to do my best.
“Frances and I were both tired from the (Sunday) semi-finals and there was a lot of tension.
“I’m just glad I kept my level in the important moments. I handled the situations on court well.
“There were many ups and downs, but that’s normal. At the big moments of each match I played well.”
Sinner heads to the August 26 start of the US Open as a major favourite, standing more than 2,000 points clear of world number two Novak Djokovic.
“I’m confident, but it’s important to be able to recover to be ready for New York,” the Italian said afterwards.
“That is the main goal of this US Open swing. “I’m happy to be in the position I’m in. I have the hunger to keep playing. I hope to show good tennis in New York.”
Against Tiafoe, Sinner hit 29 winners, including 13 aces and broke the American twice from eight attempts.
“I’m really tired,” Tiafoe told Sinner at the net afterwards.
“I’m not used to playing so many matches like you big guys. Well-played.”
In the opening set, the Italian made ten aces en route to a tiebreaker during their almost hour-long clash.
Sinner had two set point opportunities when Tiafoe’s defense gave way, the first of which was converted by the top seed to give Sinner the early lead.
When his reserves started to run low, Tiafoe lost serve to begin the second game. Sinner won a double break in a match that lasted more than ten minutes and featured seven deuces.
The Italian was down 4-1, but Tiafoe saved three match points to get up to 5-2 before the top seed finished the job a game later.
Since Andy Murray in 2008, Sinner is the youngest champion of this event.
