WASHINGTON (Dispatches) - Teenager Jannik Sinner won the Citi Open in Washington to claim the biggest title of his career.
The Italian, 19, beat the USA’s Mackenzie McDonald 7-5 4-6 7-5 for his third ATP title.
Sinner also became the youngest winner of an ATP 500 event since the category was created in 2009.
“I’m not looking if I’m the youngest because the road is long,” he said. “There’s still much work to do. I’m already focusing on next week.”
Sinner is the ATP’s top-ranked teenager - he came into the tournament as the world number 24 and is set to jump to a career-high 15, with McDonald rising from 107 to 64.
World number five Alexander Zverev was the previous youngest ATP 500 winner, having triumphed at Washington in 2017, aged 20.
Sinner ended last year with a win in Sofia and started 2021 by winning in Melbourne, making him the youngest player to win back-to-back titles since Rafael Nadal, 19, in 2005.
His best performance in a Grand Slam event was a run to last year’s French Open quarter-finals, and he made this year’s fourth round.