Jannik Sinner defeated Mackenzie McDonald in the thrilling final of the 2021 Citi Open final on Sunday to win his third ATP title. Sinner beat the USA’s Mackenzie McDonald in the three sets 7-5, 4-6, 7-5.
Jannik Sinner became an ATP 500 champion for the first time in his career after winning the Citi Open on Sunday. This was also his third tour-level singles crown won in less than a year.
Alexander Zverev was the youngest champion before Sinner
Sinner is the youngest to lift an ATP 500 trophy. He became the first Italian finalist in the Citi Open history. Before Sinner, the 20-year-old Alexander Zverev was the youngest champion to win ATP 500 trophy. He claimed the Citi Open title in 2017 after defeating Kevin Anderson in the final.
Match Highlights
The first set went to the tie-breaker where the Italian pulled a victory and took the opening set 7-5. McDonald made a comeback by winning the next set 6-4. Sinner improved his errors and took charge in the third set. He won the third set by 7-5. The Italian struck nine aces while double-faulting only once in the match. Sinner looked in great touch in the whole tournament. He dropped only one set throughout the competition which came in the finals. He has a win-loss record of 29-14 in the season.
Here’s what Sinner said after the memorable win
“I think there is still much work to do, to be honest. A lot of experience to put in, working hard as we are doing now and, you know, trying to play important matches and important moments. Today I think I had a lot of them. I can learn many things from today.”
“I think it’s tough with mental because I had a lot of chances, couldn’t use it because first, he was playing better in the crucial moments. But I tried to work for one more chance and for one more chance and trying to break him like this. It was a little bit of a roller-coaster, to be honest because I started well in the third set. I tried to going a little bit up with the rhythm, trying to play a little bit faster. I broke him like this. And then trying to serve it out I had two match points, and then after I was not serving well. He was returning well.” Sinner said
“(I was ) trying to stay mentally strong and obviously physically if you’re playing nearly three hours. I played doubles as well this week. So, as I said yesterday, [at 19 years old] if you play really long, you recover fast. So obviously it is physical, but I think most likely it was mental.” He added
“I dug as deep as I could. I left it all out there, so I’m pretty happy with my performance.” McDonald said during the trophy ceremony.