Number one in the world Novak Djokovic got off to a good start in his title defense at the ATP Finals in Turin. After three hours and four minutes, Novak beat the young Dane Holger Rune 7-6, 6-7, 6-3. This was his 47th win at this event. The reigning champion didn’t play well in the tie break in the second set, which let his opponent force a decider.
Novak, on the other hand, won two return games to end Holger’s chances and tie Jannik Sinner for first place in the results. Novak won his eighth year-end number one ranking, beating Carlos Alcaraz. At age 36, he set a new record and wrote history.
Djokovic lost his serve three times and made four breaks, which was enough to get to the top. Rune did his best, hitting 18 aces, but he dropped serve four times out of eight chances given to the world number one. He lost ground in the final set, just like he did in Paris a few weeks ago.
Novak held at 30 in the first game, and Holger hit an ace in the second game to tie the match at 1. The senior won the third game with a forehand down the line, but in the next game, he missed a backhand, which let the young gun tie the match at 2-2.
Novak hit a backhand that went in and had two break points in the fifth game. He stopped them with brave hitting before going up for the third. This time, Holger made Novak make a mistake with his forehand, which gave him a break and a 3-2 lead. In the next game, the Dane wasted a game point by missing a chance to build on his lead and then making a bad drop shot that let the Serb tie the score at 3-3.
In games seven and eight, they served well, keeping the score close and putting more pressure on each other. In game nine, Djokovic threw away game points before holding at deuce to take a lead again. Rune had to serve to stay in the set. Holger did a great job in the tenth game, which dragged out the match and led to a tie break after a hold at 5-6.
It was 2-2 after the fourth point when Djokovic hit a smash winner. After Rune’s wild forehand, he got a mini-break to make it 4-2 after the fourth point.
Novak Djokovic won the title in Turin for the eighth time in a row.
Novak won the seventh point with a backhand that beat Holger at the net and gave him another mini-break that put him ahead 5-2.
At 6-4, the Serb hit a forehand crosscourt return winner to end the first set after 71 minutes of hard work. Rune got off to a good start in the second set and took a break at 15 in the second game after Djokovic tried to serve and lob.
In the third game, Holger had three break points and missed a chance to go up 3-0. Novak won the last game with a backhand crosscourt winner, which broke the match and gave him a boost. Going forward, they served well, and Djokovic had to keep that up at 4-5.
Novak turned down a set point and held for 5–5, still trying to win the match in straight sets. With an ace down the T line in the next game, Novak broke the tie with another hold after deuce in game 11. The Serb lost 3-0 after making two easy forehands.
With an ace, Rune went up 4-0 and then hit a forehand down the line to make it 5-0. In the sixth point, Djokovic sprayed a backhand mistake, giving his opponent six set points. After two hours and twenty-four minutes, the Dane won the second game with a service winner, setting up a final.
Novak got over the loss and took an early lead in the second game with a strong performance on the return. But in the third game, Holger painted a down the line winner that took back the break. Novak was furious because the Serb broke two racquets.
Novak then used his knowledge and kept his cool, and Holger made a mistake in the sixth game, which gave Novak a break and a 4-2 lead. In game seven, Djokovic held at 15 to go ahead 5-2 and make Rune serve to stay in the match.
Novak won the match with a forehand winner at 5-3, moving him ahead and making his winning streak longer. Holger won the eighth game that way.
