Jannik Sinner defeated Novak Djokovic in a marathon match at the ATP Finals and set the next exclamation point. Holger Rune and his new coach Boris Becker can hope to reach the semi-finals. Rune benefited from the departure of Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas due to injury.
It was already after midnight when Sinner converted his second match point to make it 7:5, 6:7, 7:6 against the Serbian top favorite. With the victory against the world number one after 3:09 hours, the once again strong Italian nurtured his hopes of his first major title at the home game in Turin. At the start, Sinner won easily against Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Djokovic, on the other hand, has to worry about his twelfth place in the semi-finals at the end of the season after the defeat. The six-time finals winner is now under pressure in his last group game against Polish replacement Hubert Hurkacz.
Sinner on course for the semi-finals after his first win against Djokovic
After the first success in the fourth duel with Djokovic, Sinner has the semi-finals close in sight. In the final match against Holger Rune, the South Tyrolean can make his first place in the top four at the season finale.
Tsitsipas has to give up – Rune can hope for the semi-finals
Rune and his new coach Boris Becker can hope to reach the semi-finals. In front of the German icon, the 20-year-old Rune benefited from the Greek Tsitsipas’ retirement due to injury in his second group match on Tuesday; after just 17 minutes the game was over with the score 2-1 for Rune.
“It was very unfortunate,” said Rune after the short mission: “We could all see in his first service game that something was wrong. I wish him all the best.”
In 2021, Tsitsipas had to give up due to injury at the end of the season’s eight best teams. Tsitsipas won the ATP Finals in London in 2019. On the first day of the match, tournament debutant Rune lost in three sets after a great fight against world number one Novak Djokovic.
Zverev meets Medvedev on Wednesday
The two best placed teams from each of the two groups of four qualify for the semi-finals. Alexander Zverev, who won the tournament in 2018 and 2021, is in demand again after his opening win against Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz (Spain) on Wednesday evening (9 p.m.). Then he will meet Daniil Medvedev for the sixth time this year, and he was only able to defeat the Russian once.