Djokovic still has a clean sheet against Ruud, who is fourth in the world rankings. Djokovic had the upper hand twice at the ATP Masters 1000 tournaments in Rome (2020 and 2022) and once in the group phase of the ATP Finals 2021 in Turin. He has not yet had to give a sentence in a direct duel. It is quite possible that this will change on Sunday, especially since Ruud had to fight significantly less than the Serb in the semifinals with a playing time of just over an hour. The nine-time ATP tournament winner only lost six games against Rublev, it wasn’t really exciting.
“It all went for me, I hit all the lines you can hit. I’m very happy with my performance,” Ruud summed up. He hopes to put in a great performance again on Sunday. “Then you will see what emerges in the end.” Ruud’s respect for the 90-time ATP tournament winner Djokovic is great. “He’s a player who has won the tournament five times and doesn’t really have any weaknesses,” Ruud was aware. This is only his second time taking part in the end-of-season event.
Djokovic had to fight
Djokovic initially took a 3-2 lead against Fritz with a break, but didn’t play his best tennis and only won the first set in the tie-break. In the second round, the tournament favorite fell behind and only managed to break at 5:5 when Fritz served to equalize the set. After 1:53 hours, the 21-time Grand Slam tournament winner used his second match point. Fritz slipped into the field as a replacement for the injured Spanish world number one Carlos Alcaraz.
Djokovic in the final of the ATP Finals
Novak Djokovic is in the final at the ATP Finals in Turin. The favorite from Serbia defeated the American Taylor Fritz in the semifinals on Saturday.
“I had to fight to survive. I didn’t feel very well,” Djokovic admitted on the court. “After yesterday’s long match, I knew that I would need some time to find the dynamic movement.” The day before, Djokovic had fought against Wien- Winner Daniil Medvedev from Russia was only able to prevail after 3:11 hours with 7:6 in the third set.
“I’m glad I made it through”
“I didn’t start the second set well, he served on the set. In these moments I still manage to step up a gear. It wasn’t one of my best days in terms of tennis, but I’m glad I made it through,” said the Serb. Most recently, Djokovic won the Masters of the eight best players of the year seven years ago, and now he finally wants to strike again. “I am very motivated and hungry. One match is still missing, hopefully I can win it.”
As an undefeated champion, Djokovic could pocket a record premium of $4.74 million (around €4.58) and secure 1,500 points for the ATP ranking. For comparison: There are 2,000 points for one of the four Grand Slam titles. In the ATP ranking, this year’s Wimbledon winner, for which he did not receive any points, can improve to a maximum of fifth place even after winning the title.
ATP-Finals in Turin
(Italien, 14.750.000 Dollar, Hardcourt/Indoor)
