Jannik Sinner beat Holger Rune to maintain his perfect start at the ATP Finals – and help send Novak Djokovic into the last four in Turin.
World number one Djokovic, who beat Hubert Hurkacz 7-6 (7-1) 4-6 6-1 earlier on Thursday, needed a Sinner victory to advance to the semi-finals.
The Italian, who won 6-2 5-7 6-4, tops the group with three wins from three.
Djokovic, who is chasing a record seventh ATP Finals title, finished second in the round-robin group stage.
Fourth seed Sinner, 22, took on Rune knowing he was guaranteed at least a second-place finish in the Green Group and a spot in the semi-finals.
Cheered on by a home crowd, he raced through the opening set before Rune fought back to take the second.
Sinner, despite appearing to struggle with an injury in his lower back, managed to break for a 5-4 lead in the third, before serving out for a first career win over Rune.
He became the first Italian in the tournament’s 54-year history to reach the last four.
Djokovic battles through against Hurkacz
After Sinner ended his 19-match winning streak on Tuesday, Djokovic bounced back with a hard-fought victory over Poland’s Hurkacz – a replacement for the injured Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Unable to progress regardless of the result, Hurkacz came into the match against Djokovic with nothing to lose and held firm on his serve throughout the first set.
The world number nine crumbled in the tie-break and Djokovic needed just the second of six set points to secure the opener.
However, in a 14-minute period where the Serb failed to win a single point, Hurkacz broke and consolidated to go 4-2 up before saving two break points and serving out for the set.
Djokovic regained control to secure the match and set up a semi-final encounter with the winner of the Red Group, while Sinner will face the runner-up.
Russia’s Daniil Medvedev is guaranteed of a place in the last four, while Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz and Germany’s Alexander Zverev can both still qualify from the Red Group.
The ATP Finals features eight of the year’s best men’s players split into two groups of four, with the top two in each qualifying for the semi-finals.
