With a 7-5 career record against top 20 players, and wins against Lorenzo Musetti and Daniil Medvedev en route, Learner Tien looked like the perfect dark horse to win it all in Beijing. But Jannik Sinner is Jannik Sinner and he once again underlined his tennis supremacy, clinching the 2025 China Open title with a commanding 6–2, 6–2 victory over Tien. This victory marked the Italian’ second consecutive China Open win, and was also his 21 ATP-level title.

It’s a milestone that only Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz have surpassed this century in their first 30 finals. Nadal and Alcaraz each converted 23 of their opening 30 finals, underscoring the rarity of such consistency. But Sinner didn’t let his impressive victory overshadow Tien’s confidence. 

During his on-court interview, the Italian shared some words of encouragement for his 19-year-old opponent. He said, “I’d like to start with Learner and your whole team. 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.”

This was actually the first time Sinner and Tien have faced each other on court. We already know how strong Sinner is. But Tien’s path is shaping up to rather interesting in its own right. In the semifinal, Tien battled back from a set down to force a decider against Daniil Medvedev before the Russian retired, sending Tien into the final. To top it off, the China Open final match marked his first tour-level final, while it was Sinner’s third consecutive final game in Beijing. 

Additionally, the win also highlighted the Italian’s ascension to the fifth spot in the list of most hard-court titles before the age of 25. This win was Sinner’s 18th hard-court title. In the number one spot, it’s of course, Roger Federer with 25 titles, followed by Novak Djokovic and Pete Sampras with 22 titles, Jimmy Connors with 20, and Andy Murray with 19. 

Jannik Sinner continued by showing gratitude towards his team for the win. But this was definitely not the end. He claimed, “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.” Now, with back-to-back China Open titles won, is Jannik Sinner looking to break the record?

Jannik Sinner speaks about Novak Djokovic and the China Open

Jannik Sinner’s win has made him only the third player to win this title multiple times, joining some pretty illustrious company in Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. While Nadal, like Sinner, won it twice, Djokovic has positively dominated Beijing; the Serb has six China Open titles to his name, won between 2009 – 2015.

In his post-match presser, a reporter brought up Djokovic’s record and if the Italian was looking to break it. “I don’t know,” responded Sinner with a smile. “I always say comparing me to Novak, he’s in different league with everything he has achieved in his career. I’m just a normal 24-year-old who tries to play the best tennis possible.”

He continued, as humble as ever, “But I’m not comparing myself. I’m here to play. I’m here to enjoy. I’m also happy that I can say that I won two times here. If it stays at two? If it’s more, I’m more happy? I don’t know if I’m more happy. I don’t know. I’m very happy that I can say I won here two times, then we see in the future.”

With his 500 ranking points defended, it’s on to Shanghai next for Sinner, where the chance at another title and a crucial 1,000 points beckons. With Alcaraz out of the tournament, the Italian is the overwhelming favorite as the race to the year-end World No. 1 spot heats up. Will Jannik Sinner succeed in reclaiming the top spot? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.