9:53 p.m
Alcaraz – Djokovic 3:6, 0:0
That makes Djokovic totally callous now. With good first serves – his rate is significantly better than that of his opponent – he quickly gets into advantageous situations. As a result of a backhand cross that was too good, the veteran gets three set balls. On the first he snaps to the outside with an ace.
9:50 p.m
Alcaraz – Djokovic 3:5
Now Alcaraz is having difficulties for the first time. Because Djokovic returns better and better, it’s suddenly 3:30 p.m. A completely misplaced backhand from the Spaniard then leads to Djoker’s first break chances, of which Alcaraz is able to fend off the first. But on the second occasion the Serb is there – because Alcaraz hits the backhand longline into the net without any pressure.
9:43 p.m
Alcaraz – Djokovic 3:4
In the long rallies, Djokovic is usually ahead. Alcaraz’s powerful punches often don’t bother him too much. He rarely produces an unforced error himself. This is also why he has three game balls in the seventh game. He ultimately bagged it at 15.
9:40 p.m
Alcaraz – Djokovic 3:3
Alcaraz is not yet completely secure on the internet. At 30:0 from his point of view in his third service game, he sends Djokovic with the service to the outside far into his forehand. But he only places the deep volley from the half field into the net. But then the youngster stayed cool, secured two points in a row and equalized to 3:3.
9:35 p.m
Alcaraz – Djokovic 2:3
Another powerful point from Djokovic! Alcaraz lures the old master to the net with a stop, but chooses the wrong route twice. Both times Djokovic stands correctly at the net and completes the ball back. He smashes the following lob attempt into the game ball on the baseline. A service winner gives him a morally important game win.
9:33 p.m
Alcaraz – Djokovic 2:2
It’s getting ticklish again for Djokovic. Once again he finds himself at 0:30 on his own serve. Two quick points later it’s 30 both before there’s a real rally again. Alcaraz sends Djokovic deep into his backhand corner, but hits the net a good bit too far. In his serve-and-volley variant, however, he leaves the ball behind with the volley, which he botched. Then the best rally of the match so far: The Belgrade player sends Alcaraz around before his forehand cross seems to become dangerous. In the end, it is the 36-year-old who forces his opponent to make a mistake. On the second ball he already has the penalty in the half field to make it 3-2, but pushes the inside-out out of bounds without any need.
9:28 p.m
Alcaraz – Djokovic 2:2
Alcaraz’s fine touch: After a short Djokovic return, he plays a forehand stop that isn’t even that good in itself. Because his opponent only sees this very late, it is enough to make it 15-0. After that it’s quick: the Serb only gets one point, Alcaraz grabs the others.
9:24 p.m
Alcaraz – Djokovic 1:2
The Djoker flies through his second service game. At 40:0 he has three balls, of which Alcaraz destroys the first with a pushed forehand longline from half court. Then the industry leader is there via Servicewinner.
9:22 p.m
Alcaraz – Djokovic 1:1
For Alcaraz, the first service game is more relaxed. He is there twice with serve winners. Although Djokovic managed to go from 0:40 to 30:40 thanks to two mistakes made by his opponent, then the Spanish forehand cross express hit.
9:18 p.m
Alcaraz – Djokovic 0:1
Strong from Djokovic! The next two points also go to his account – he takes advantage with an ace to the outside. It is important that he does not allow himself to be overwhelmed by his opponent’s powerful and risky game.
9:16 p.m
Alcaraz – Djokovic 0-0
Let’s go, Djokovic has won the coin toss and decides to serve himself at the beginning. However, the first two points go straight to the Spaniard’s account: first he forces Djokovic onto the defensive with a great backhand cross in order to convert the easy volley at the net. He then hits a hammer-hard forehand cross onto the court using the edge of the net to make it 0:30. The Serb counters with a service winner, but then receives another powerful backhand down the line – break balls. Alcaraz misses the first one because his backhand cross this time drips just out of bounds from the edge of the net. On his second opportunity he hits his forehand into the net with the first unforced error. So debut.
9:07 p.m
Both players warm up
Alcaraz and Djokovic arrived on the court. After a short warm-up phase, you can get started straight away.
20:52
Close call in the Green Group
In Turin, however, the Belgrade native stumbled briefly. The hard-fought victory over Boris Becker’s protégé Holger Rune (7:6, 6:7, 6:3) was followed by a defeat in a close match against Jannik Sinner (5:7, 7:6, 6:7). As a result, he was dependent on help: Sinner had to defeat round, Djokovic himself had to beat his replacement Hubert Hurkacz. Both worked: first he solved his mandatory task against the Pole (7:6, 4:6, 6:1), then Sinner brought Rune to his knees (6:2, 5:7, 6:4). Now we can look forward to a hopefully entertaining semi-final against Alcaraz in the duel of the generations.
8:48 p.m
Djokovic will continue to dominate in 2023
It’s another year of total dominance from the Serbs. The 36-year-old secured three of the four Grand Slams – only at Wimbledon did he have to admit defeat to Alcaraz in five rounds. He also won the tournaments in Cincinnati and Paris. For the eighth time he ends a year as world number one thanks to his excellent results. Even if he were to leave today, his place in the sun can no longer be taken away from him.
20:42
Rising form in Turin
Good for Alcaraz: his performance appears to be stabilizing again. He defied the opening defeat against Alexander Zverev (7:6, 3:6, 4:6) with two triumphs over Andrey Rublev (7:5, 6:2) and Daniil Medvedev (6:4, 6:4). Thanks to the better set ratio compared to Zverev and Medvedev, he won the red group – and therefore meets the runner-up in the green group.
8:31 p.m
Latest results
Things weren’t necessarily going well for Alcaraz before the ATP Finals. Since his Wimbledon victory over Djokovic in five sets in July, the 20-year-old has not won a tournament. In Cincinnati, Djoker got his revenge in three hard-fought sets in the final. He then made it to the semifinals at the US Open (four-set defeat against Daniil Medvedev) and in Beijing (two-set defeat against Jannik Sinner). After that, the performance curve pointed downwards: Alcaraz lost in the fourth round against Grigor Dimitrov in Shanghai, and his opening match against Roman Safiullin in Paris. No wonder he didn’t go into the ATP Finals as favorite despite his victory over Djokovic at Wimbledon.
20:23
Hello!
Hello and welcome to the second semi-final of the ATP Finals in Turin! In this highly anticipated duel, Wimbledon winner Carlos Alcaraz will face top favorite Novak Djokovic. Kickoff is at 9:00 p.m.