The world number 1 beats the Dane in over three hours of an intense and spectacular match: 7-6 6-7 6-3. Jannik and the Serbian are thus together at the top of the group
Can the tournament match be played on the first day? In this case, yes. The best can always come and the 2023 edition of the ATP Finals promises to offer other epic matches, but this Djokovic-Rune will be remembered for a long time. Duration: 3 hours and three minutes. Result: Djokovic victory (7-6 6-7 6-3). Development: hits, heavenly responses, inciting crowds, smashing rackets, breaks and counterbreaks. Everything and more, in a packed and enthusiastic Pala Alpitour in front of tennis like this. The precedents, on the other hand, spoke clearly: every time these two face each other, the fight becomes intense, atrocious, with tension dominating the air. Nole’s law wins again this time: Djokovic will be Sinner’s next opponent.
THE FIRST SET
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The first two sets develop in the same way: break by Rune, immediate counterbreak by Djokovic. The reaction of the sample, from sample. In the first set, the games won in response are the fifth and sixth, in the second set everything happens first, in the second and third. The common thread it’s muscular, physical tennis, with winners and some errors on both sides. Holger bold and aggressive, especially in return and with his backhand. In the first set, for example, he reached the tie break by coming back from 0-30 in the eleventh game, displaying his full personality. The lost set could have been a blow but instead we start from scratch, as if nothing had happened. And so break, immediately. The problem is that on the other side of the net is Djokovic.
RUNE’S REACTION
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Here the second set also heads towards the tie break, with Nole celebrating like Nole after the immediate counterbreak. In the tenth game, Rune has set point in response: the Serbian cancels with the first serve. In the next game, at 40-40 and serve by the Dane, the baby phenomenon invents a crazy point closed with a volley. In short: spectacular shots, moments of adrenaline, moments that can direct the match from one side to the other. The tie break of the second set, however, is surprisingly a monologue by Rune: 7-1 for Holger, with Nole very fouled.
NOW SINNER
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The third set doesn’t end in a tie break, but that doesn’t make it any more “smooth”. Always break and counterbreak, this time with reversed roles: Djokovic takes the lead 2-0, Rune takes it back immediately. And there Nole explodes, breaking a couple of rackets. A sign of anger, yes, but also and above all of life. So much so that, as the minutes pass, the world number 1 increases his presence in the match, with Rune instead starting to suffer from a physical point of view: thus, almost due to exhaustion, the break arrives which decides the match in favor of Nole, in the sixth game. Tuesday will therefore be Djokovic-Sinner: the anticipation is already enormous.
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