TURIN - Jannik Sinner hit the accelerator at the end of each set as he cruised past Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4 on Tuesday to close in on a semi-final spot at the ATP Finals in Turin.
In September, Sinner had to overcome raucous home support to win his last meeting with the American as he claimed victory in the final of the US Open, also in straight sets.
This time, the Turin crowd was nosily behind the Italian.
"The crowd is helping me a lot," said Sinner on the court.
The hard-hitting Fritz, ranked number five, put pressure on Sinner's serve early in the first set. The American had the first break point of the match in the 14-minute seventh game but could not take his chance.
Sinner responded at once, but wasted three break points in the next game before breaking to 15 in the 10th game to take the set.
"I was struggling to return his serve but I am happy with how I handled the situation," said Sinner.
The second set also went with serve until the 10th game when Fritz double-faulted on Sinner's first match point.
"It was a very tough match," said Sinner. "We got to know each other very well in a Grand Slam final, we knew exactly what to expect today it was very aggressive as I was prepared for."
Victory put Sinner top of the Ilie Nastase group with just Daniil Medvedev to face. The home favourite could still be eliminated with a straight-sets loss.
Fritz faces Alex de Minaur who has lost both his matches so far.
In the afternoon match, former champion Medvedev brushed aside Finals debutant De Minaur 6-2, 6-4 to bounce back from an opening defeat and boost his hopes of making the knock-out phase.
The Russian, who lost his first group-stage match to Fritz, overpowered De Minaur to push his Australian opponent.
Medvedev, who lifted the title in 2020, did not face a single break point and broke De Minaur's serve three times.
The fourth seed will next face Sinner on Thursday.
"I decided not to care about it in a good way," Medvedev said. "If I lose, the season is over, if I win I have another chance on Thursday... I'll try and do the same the next match, so I don't care."