Sinner digs deep to topple Djokovic at ATP Finals

TURIN: Home favourite Jannik Sinner earned a dramatic 7-5, 6-7(5), 7-6(2) victory against Novak Djokovic at the ATP Finals group match for his first Head-to-Head win in four tries against the Serbian great.

The result improved Sinner to 2-0 in ATP Finals and put him in command of the Green Group — though his qualification for the knockout semi-final stage is not yet confirmed, reports ATP.

In the pair’s first hard-court meeting, Sinner’s brilliant ball-striking ended Djokovic’s 19-match winning streak, which dated back to his Cincinnati title run. The Italian’s career-best season now includes 59 match wins — the most by an Italian in the Open Era and a 10-5 record against the Top 10.

Sinner also improved to 15-1 indoors for 2023 by earning his second victory against a reigning World No. 1; he also beat then-No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in the Miami semifinal earlier this season.

Djokovic spent much of the three-hour, nine-minute matchup battling back from behind, but he had no answer for Sinner’s lightning start to the decisive tie-break.

Long after he won nine straight points to snatch the opening set, breaking from 40/0 before a love hold, Sinner surged ahead in the final tie-break with five consecutive points, hitting huge ground strokes in the face of extreme pressure to build what proved to be an unassailable lead. In the third set, Sinner led 4-2 but was pegged back immediately as Djokovic broke serve for the first time in the match. There would be no comeback in the tie-break, as Sinner sent the crowd to fever pitch with victory before receiving a warm embrace from his opponent at net.

Djokovic dropped to 1-1 in Turin with the defeat but still remains in with a chance of reaching the semi-finals. He will close out his round-robin campaign against Hubert Hurkacz on Thursday, with the Pole coming in as an alternate to Stefanos Tsitsipas who withdraw from the tournament owing to a back injury.

Sinner will meet Holger Rune as he seeks to finish 3-0 in the group.

Sinner deserved to win: Djokovic

Djokovic praised Sinner’s assertive style of play in the pivotal moments, noting the Italian’s series of powerful strokes that made an impact towards the end of the first and third sets.

“You have to just congratulate him. He just played a fantastic match, that’s what I told him at the net. I think in the most important moments, he played his best game and he absolutely deserved to win,” Djokovic was quoted by ATP Tour.

“I think the main difference is that in the important points, he was going for it, he was more courageous. He deserved to win because in important moments I wasn’t aggressive enough, I wasn’t decisive enough. I gave him the opportunity to take the control over the points,” the Serbian added.

Although Djokovic found minimal flaws in his overall game, he did extract a lesson from the loss admitting that “he had to be a bit more decisive.”

Djokovic, who applauded his opponent’s play on several occasions, dropped to 1-1 in Green group with the defeat.