Jannik Sinner & Alex De Minaur Post-Match Press Conferences 🗣️ | Nitto ATP Finals 2025

Yannick, what clicked at 6-5 in the first set? Things were so tight up to then and then you could have even been up 5-0 in that second set, so what worked for you at that moment to get you through? Well, I had some break chances in the first game, had some break chances throughout, you know, the set. He was playing some really great tennis, you know, then on 5-0 I managed to break which, you know, gave me then the confidence to raise my level, to hit, you know, from the back of the court a bit stronger also and I felt like also the beginning of the second set was very important, you know, when you start with the break up straight away it's a bit easier to serve, it's a bit easier to move the ball around. But he came up with some great, great tennis today, I had to be very careful. Early, you know, the early stages of the sets are very important, as we saw, you know, today, you know, if I break and he had also break chances in the first set on 40. But again, I'm very happy and it was a very tough match. Yannick, you seem almost unbeatable on kind of indoor hard, could you just talk about what it is about playing indoors that suits you so well and if it's Carlos tomorrow, whether that kind of changes and how that changes the match-up? Well, you know, honestly every match-up is different, you know, we saw it in Rome and Paris, you know, even if it's the same surface but, you know, it can change. So I'm, you know, of course happy, you know, first of all to finish my season here with another final, has been an amazing year for me and I'm looking forward to it for tomorrow, you know, these are matches I look up to, these are matches I look forward to and also to see for me where my level really is. But at the same time, it's great before the off-season, you know, to have this match-up but he still has a match to go, you know, against Felix, I played against him earlier this week, it's a very tough opponent, he loves to play indoors as we know and so let's see who's going to win but in any case I'm happy to be in the final and then we'll see but of course I feel, you know, comfortable on indoor hardcourt as I know and then we'll see, just hope for a good match. What makes you feel so comfortable? Well, you know, I still feel like, you know, in between Vienna, Paris and here are three different scenarios because of the court, the size of the court, it's all a bit different but in the same time you don't have to handle, you know, the wind or the sun and many other things and scenarios and I feel just very, you know, comfortable but in the same time it suits my game maybe the best because, you know, I'm someone who is quite flat and has, you know, this rhythm game which, you know, gives me the confidence to keep going for shots and changing direction a little bit easier so I think that's what indoor tennis is, it makes me feel comfortable. Janik, congratulations. Alex, for a while now, he's been knocking on the door trying to get into the top five, trying to get deeper into these bigger tournaments. For yourself, having been there, done that, you know, world number one, winning multiple grand slams, is there one piece of advice you'd give for Alex to try and take that next step? I know you don't want to give too much away but is there just that one piece of advice you can give? You know, me, you know, I've played a lot lately against him and I feel like he has improved week after week, to be honest. I mean, also today, you know, the backhand was much stronger than maybe in Vienna, you know, so he is getting, you know, a better and more consistent player in high levels and he can now, you know, play this high level not only for half a set but, you know, he goes basically all out, you know, and at the end of the day, you know, top five, I think he can make it, you know, because physically he's very, very strong, great mentality, you know, because we saw it also here in this tournament, you know, from very tough loss, then he comes back and he wins, you know, against Taylor and it's just a very mental game and mentally he is very, very strong and you need to be also consistent on every surface, you know, throughout the whole season and so I wish him best of luck. Alex, tough match but another good season for you. Looking back, what are you the most proud about this season? Yeah, it's been another positive season for me. Obviously, staying in the top 10, top 8 is a good achievement. I won a lot of matches this year. There's still plenty to learn and grow from and plenty to improve which I'll be looking at and hopefully next year will be an even better version of myself. Hi, you said during the tournament that you went to very, very dark places. Now that it's done, do you see the light? Yeah, I mean, look, I had a little shift in perspective and of course, like sitting here right now, I feel like I should have finished my Turin campaign having won two matches instead of one but you can't really change the past. You just got to do your best to learn from it, get back up and keep on heading forward, right? So, that's ultimately the goal now. Obviously, I'm in a much better place and I think today there was a lot of good stuff and ultimately, we just got to keep on improving. There's no other way. Hi Alex, Simone Turner, Eurosport Italy. I don't want to sound cocky but do you remember a set that you played better than the first one in your career today? Because to me, it was almost your top, top level possible and still not enough. I'm curious, I'm just curious. I mean, that's a tough question to ask someone because it kind of sounds like my best is not good enough in your eyes and I have won sets against Yannick in the past. So, look, I'm going to say that yeah, there was a lot of good stuff in that first set. I think one of the key elements was I dropped my percentage of first serve in the crucial stages which allowed him to jump on top of me in that five-all game and he came up with some pretty good shots as well. So, look, I played him many, many times and even though a lot of people may not think so, I know how to beat him. It's just not that easy to do, right? You've got to hit the ball very hard, very flat, very deep and very close to the line. So, it is something that I try to do but obviously it's not the easiest thing to do and I do think for me to have genuine chances, I need to serve well throughout the whole match and my serve dropped a little bit and I could have been better. Well done today and all year. How motivated are you now? I mean, I know the season's just finished but looking ahead to 2026 and kind of closing that gap to those two at the top? Yeah, look, it's always the goal. As I said, I still think that I've got more to give and I haven't hit my peak just yet but I've also got to be careful with how much I push myself and how pressure I put on myself because that's what gets me into dark places, right? The desire to keep on improving and keep on wanting more and expecting more. So, I've got to find a healthy balance but as we've seen kind of the last two matches, I do have the ability to play with a higher pace and more aggressive style tennis. So, I do think this is what needs to come out to be the best players in the world. Alex, congrats on a great season. After the French Open, you said you're obviously mentally fatigued, you needed a reset, you know, burnt out. How important is it now? No Davis Cup coming up for you just to take that extra week off and the next few weeks heading into the new season, how important is it for you to reset? It is extremely important. Yeah, I've played a lot the last five or so years and obviously Davis Cup has been always a huge priority in my calendar and yeah, it's nice to have some time to switch off and I'm going to need that because obviously we saw this year how I went through a tough stage and I don't want to do that in the biggest tournaments of the year. So, for me to take the next step is just being fresh, not putting as much pressure on myself and ultimately just stepping up in the bigger tournaments. That's what it's going to take for me to jump from where I've been the last two years to potentially in the top five and pushing for bigger and better things. Alex, any reason for a drop in serving percentage? I think it even dropped to about in the 50s at one stage and with your career and the people that you've played, I know you've played Yannick the most probably, but is he the toughest for you when you compare playing Alcaraz and Novak and Roger and Rafa and all that? I think one of the things that makes it very difficult against Yannick is his return of serve. That's one of the biggest things for me is that if I'm not serving really well then I'm in trouble. If I'm missing a lot of first serves and I'm starting points with second serves, that's when I'm kind of behind in the rally. Against other players I can maneuver that from time to time, but of course you've got that and then the pace of ball. That's the biggest thing that when you are in baseline exchanges, his pace of ball is very large and it's got a lot of revolutions from both the forehand and the backhand side. It's a lot easier to dictate play if you're landing first serves. That's the biggest thing. It just got to a point where maybe I was trying to over serve a little bit because I felt like he was getting on top of my serve, so maybe I started to push a little bit more and lost a little bit of rhythm. Again, I'm going in the right track. I think the level of that first serve was very good. I had my chances. I had a lot 40 early in that set that could have given me a little bit of buffer and who knows what could have happened. Back to the drawing board and time to bring on a new season. I do think there's more constant pressure. That's the biggest thing with Yannick. More often than not I feel like with Yannick you can get into a bit of a snowball effect after one break, the second break comes and all of a sudden you're doing your best to fight off potentially a bagel or 6-1. That's mainly due to how well he's returning and his serving at the moment. His serving under duress in big points has been exceptional. I think I'm probably not the first player this week to talk about that, but that's been very impressive by him. Congrats first of all for reaching the semi-finals and I think it was the best ranking. You both progressed a lot. In my opinion in the last two years you both played much better. The results don't change too much, so I'm asking what has been the biggest improvement of Sin from your point of view. If he hasn't lost for instance in this whole tournament he served 39 times, 39 and never lost a game on his serve. While against you he had either break point or deuce every game but two, one in the first set and one in the second. The problem in my opinion was that your percentage of first serve was only 52%. What is your opinion? Yannick is a little bit taller than me, has a little bit more length which helps him on serve and obviously he's been serving at a very high level not only today but the whole match. As for me, my serve is something that's been a work in progress and over the years it definitely has gotten a lot better and it's finding that balance because he's two at the moment but he's played pretty well for a couple of years and he's been incredibly solid. It means that I can't just make first serves against Yannick. I can't put my percentage up, serve at 75-80% but just rolling it in. I need to hit my spots and go after my serves. I served a lot better in the first set than I did in the second and that's probably the difference in the two sets. Obviously I had Love40 early in the set and he gave me a look at a second serve. He hit two good first serves but I had a look at a second serve and potentially that was my chance to take. We're talking about one of the best players in the world and his level is insanely high so you're going to have to bring a very high level to beat him. For me, as I said, the only way forward is to keep trying to improve those things and the serve is one of the biggest things because returning, I'm normally going to give myself chances. I back myself on returns and then I just need to do a little bit better job on my serve.