In his native Italy, Jannik Sinner is the first representative from the country to reach the ATP finals. His semi-final opponent Daniil Medvedev gave him the victory with an untimely double fault. In the final he will face Novak Djokovic.
First finalist at the ATP finals in Turin: The Italian Jannik Sinner.
Alessandro Di Marco / EPA
The decision in this first semi-final was made in a somewhat unusual way. With Sinner at 0-1 and Sinner’s breakpoint in the deciding set, Medvedev looked for an ace with his second serve and hit the ground running. He promptly made a double mistake. He gave his Italian opponent the decisive break in this match. Shortly afterwards, Medvedev vented his anger by smashing his racket against the barrier.
The 26-year-old Russian is considered to be as talented as he is unpredictable. He won the US Open two years ago and thereby prevented Novak Djokovic from winning the calendar Grand Slam, winning all four major tournaments in one season. Medvedev led the world rankings for twelve weeks of the past two years before falling into a dip in form. This season he is playing at his best level again and has already won five tournaments.
Another title will not be added at least in 2023. In the third set, not only the nerves but also the serve completely let Medvedev down. In the end he lost to the 22-year-old Jannik Sinner 3:6, 7:6, 1:6. It was the Italian’s third win against the Russian in quick succession, after he had lost all of his first six encounters against Medvedev.
With Sinner, an Italian is in the final of the ATP Finals for the first time. And that in Turin, in the middle of the new tennis world power Italy. The audience celebrated the South Tyrolean after his victory with minute-long ovations and chants. He reached the final as the only player without defeat. The special formula of the ATP finals with two groups, in which everyone plays against everyone, exceptionally forgives even a defeat. This helped, among others, world number one Novak Djokovic, who lost to Sinner in the second group game.
Now the same encounter will take place again in the final. The 36-year-old Serb won the second semi-final on Saturday evening in impressive fashion against his biggest challenger, the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. After an hour and a half he had won the match 6:3, 6:2. It was a demonstration by the Serb against the player who dared to question his position as the best on the tour this season.
Now Djokovic is reaching for his seventh title. If successful, he would displace Roger Federer and become the sole record winner at the ATP Finals.
2023-11-18 17:29:39
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