Novak Djokovic has to work hard at the start of the ATP Finals. Only after three hours is the victory against young tennis star Holger Rune certain. A victory with a side effect.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic made a successful start to the ATP finals, but had to fight for more than three hours for his first victory. The world number one from Serbia won his opening match in Turin against the young Danish star Holger Rune, trained by Boris Becker, after a tough fight 7:6 (7:4), 6:7 (1:7), 6:3.
After exactly 3:04 hours, the 36-year-old converted his first match point. It is also clear that Djokovic will end the year as number one in the world.
In the first game of the day, the Italian Jannik Sinner clearly won against the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas 6:4, 6:4 and thus took a first step towards the semi-finals.
Alexander Zverev is only getting involved today. The Olympic champion will face Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz from Spain in his opening game from 2:30 p.m. (Sky). Other opponents in the preliminary round are the two Russians Daniil Medvedev and Andrei Rublev.
Rune’s strength left in the third round
Djokovic and Rune fought a thrilling duel in the Pala Alpitour in Turin. The 20-year-old Rune was one break ahead in the first two sets, but was unable to defend his lead in each case. The first tiebreak was won by Djokovic, who has won the Australian Open, French Open and US Open this year. In the second tiebreak, Rune clearly had the upper hand. In the third round, Rune’s strength weakened.
Sinner was the more dominant player against Tsitsipas from the start. The 22-year-old served well and didn’t miss a single break point in the entire game. Tsitsipas, on the other hand, lost his serve once in both sets and had to admit defeat after 1:25 hours. Sinner converted his first match point with an ace and was then loudly celebrated by the Italian fans.
Source: Stern
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