Djokovic destroys Sinner to win record seventh ATP Finals title
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[November 20, 2023]
TURIN (Reuters) -A ruthless Novak Djokovic destroyed home
favourite Jannik Sinner to win the ATP Finals title for a record seventh
time on Sunday -- reaching yet another milestone in his incredible
career.
The 36-year-old Serb lost to home favourite Sinner earlier in the week
in the group stage, but exacted sweet revenge with a sublime display to
claim a 6-3 6-3 victory.
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Tennis - ATP Finals - Pala Alpitour, Turin, Italy - November 19, 2023
Serbia's Novak Djokovic celebrates after winning the final against
Italy's Jannik Sinner REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane |
A sell-out crowd in Turin's Pala Alpitour had
hoped to cheer the 22-year-old Sinner to the biggest title of
his career but Djokovic was simply in a different league.
The world number one dropped only two points on serve in a
flawless opening set and once he had broken Sinner's serve in
the fourth game it was largely one-way traffic.
At one point Djokovic won 14 points in a row against a player
ranked fourth in the world before Sinner briefly slowed the
march of the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
Sinner avoided going a double break of serve down as Djokovic
surprisingly failed to make a routine passing shot and Sinner
then had points to break back in the sixth game but could not
convert either of them.
Djokovic also failed to convert break points that would have
given him a 5-2 lead as a few errors crept into his game.
The crowd tried their best to energise their man but Djokovic
moved on towards victory and a Sinner double fault ended the
contest. Djokovic moves past Roger Federer to stand alone as the
most successful player in the tournament's history.
His win concludes an individual season in which he won three of
the four Grand Slam titles and seized back the world number one
spot from Carlos Alcaraz and worryingly for the chasing pack he
will head into 2024 looking as dominant as ever.
"This is very special," Djokovic, who was joined by his children
Stefan and Tara, said on court.
"One of the best seasons I've had and to crown it against Jannik
who has been playing so well is phenomenal.
"The way Carlos (Alcaraz) and Jannik have been playing I had to
step it up."
Djokovic also outclassed Spain's Alcaraz in Saturday's
semi-finals although his place in the last four had been in
doubt after his narrow loss to Sinner in one of the matches of
the year. Ironically it was Sinner's subsequent defeat of Holger
Rune that kept Djokovic alive at the year-ender.
(Reporting by Martyn HermanEditing by Toby Davis)
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