“He knows how to handle the situation, especially on semi-finals and finals” – Sinner praises clinical performance by Djokovic
Jannik Sinner was gracious in defeat at the ATP Finals, speaking highly of Djokovic’s performance that saw him win the title on Sunday in Turin
© Zuma / Panoramic
Novak Djokovic showed what a difference five days makes, taking apart Jannik Sinner 6-3, 6-3 in the final of the Nitto ATP Finals to avenge his round-robin loss earlier in the tournament.
Following the defeat, Sinner spoke to the media in Turin and praised the performance by Djokovic, pointing to his opponent’s precision serving and calmness under pressure, as well as his own areas for improvement.
“He deserved to win today, no?” said Sinner. “He played better in the important moments, and that’s it.”
Small margins made a big difference for Sinner
Despite playing the best tennis of his short career over the past two months, Sinner bemoaned the impact that a slightly lower level from his side of the net had in Sunday’s match against Djokovic.
“I think today I was not that – how you say – sharp in certain moments. Felt like also that I dropped this little bit physically,” the Italian confessed. “When you drop a little bit against the best player in the world, he makes it look like it’s a big difference, no?”
“I tried to stay there. I tried to serve good. I made couple of mistakes. Also maybe some concentration mistakes because like on 40-All on 4-3, I missed easy forehand and everything. Still there was a lot of tension.”
The majority of Sinner’s mistakes were made due to the world No 1 putting him under near-constant pressure on his own serve. A total of 74 points were played on Sinner’s serve, compared to just 46 on Djokovic’s, despite both men serving nine times each.
Sinner faced eight break points and saved five, while Djokovic only faced two – midway through the second set – and saved both.
Sinner praises Djokovic’s mental strength
The 22-year-old was gracious in defeat, highlighting how Djokovic’s level is an inspiration for him at this stage of his career.
“What I said on court is that he’s an inspiration because he worked throughout the whole years before when he was younger in the right way to get to this point. That’s also one of my goals, no?” Sinner said.
The Italian also went on to emphasise Djokovic’s mental strength and ability to execute today.
“Mentally, you have to understand really fast what is happening. That’s what he’s doing at the moment better than anyone else. He won three Grand Slams out of four. He won end-of-year championship. He won Masters events.
“I think today he played really, really good, especially in the back of the court. For one and a half sets, he served really, really good. It was tough to play.
“He played really, really good the important moments. He knows how to handle the situation, especially on semifinals and finals. This is good for him,” said Sinner.
