Jannik Sinner produces masterclass to defend China Open title, beats Learner Tien in straight sets

Italy’s Jannik Sinner secured his third title of the year as he lifted the China Open. The 24-year-old came into the competition as a defending champion and produced a dominant performance throughout. In the final, Sinner was too hot to handle as he lost just four games (6-2, 6-2).

Sinner produced 10 aces in the match. In comparison, Learner Tien did not produce a single ace. Sinner converted four out of six break points. On the other hand, Tien had the opportunity twice but failed on both occasions. Sinner was dominant on winners, registering 22 winners, 13 more than Tien.

Tien led Sinner in a negative stat, with 10 unforced errors to his name, compared to the Italian’s nine. Sinner was far too dominant on his serve as he was 70 percent points. In comparison, Tien won just 51 percent points while serving. Overall, Sinner won 58 points 20 more than Tien.

Talking after the match, Sinner praised his young opponent, who managed to secure a place in the final of an ATP 500 event at the age of just 19. Sinner wished Tien all the best and stated that he is playing some ‘incredible’ tennis. “I’d like to start with Learner and your whole team,” said Sinner. “I know you have a great team behind you. You’ve shown throughout the whole season what a talent you are. Keep going. You’re playing incredible tennis. I wish you all the best for the rest of the season and obviously for your whole career… hopefully we can share more moments like this in the future.”

Sinner then went on to thank his team for all the work behind the scenes and also thanked the supporters who were in the arena for their support of him and other candidates throughout the competition. “My team, thanks for understanding and working. Not all the team is here. Hopefully the rest is watching from home,” said Sinner. “All the people who I have around are very honest people. Thanks for working with me. We will try to improve and push as much as we can. Let’s see how the end of the season is gonna look. I’m very happy to share this with all of  you. Thank you so much.”

The victory will give Sinner a much-needed boost, especially after he was comprehensively beaten in the final of the US Open by his fiercest rival, Carlos Alcaraz. The final score of that match was 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. After that match, Sinner admitted that he would try to change his game a bit as he was too predictable in that defeat. “I’m going to aim to maybe even lose some matches from now on, but trying to do some changes trying to be a bit more unpredictable,” said Sinner back then. “Because I think that’s what I have to do, trying to become a better player.”

Even before the start of the competition, Sinner once again highlighted that he and the coaching staff have worked a lot behind the scenes after losing that final to improve those fine margins, which became the real cause of defeat in the final in New York, which was his first defeat on hard courts in Grand Slams since the start of 2024.

“We've been reflecting a lot on that final,” said Sinner ahead of the China Open. “We are working on new things. We are changing a lot of small things. The amount of mistakes at the moment is for sure a little bit higher, but I hope that this recovers. It's just a question of time. I don't know how much I'm able to [implement changes] on the actual match court because one thing is practise and one thing is match. Let's see. I'm very motivated. It's great to work on something new, then we see how this ends up. We always try to move forward. One step in front is always better than two steps back. Let's see what we can do.”