Sinner ends Djokovic’s unbeaten run, triumphs at ATP Finals in enthrallingly tight clash

Jannik Sinner snapped Novak Djokovic‘s 19-match unbeaten streak – and how! The Italian thrilled a partisan home crowd with a 7-5, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (2) triumph at the ATP Finals in Turin – his first-ever win over this particular opponent.

“It means a lot to me,” said Sinner afterwards. “I felt like it was a really tactical match and I managed to win, so I’m very happy.”

Djokovic came into the match with a 3-0 head-to-head record against Sinner, but this was their first meeting on hard court.

Even so, Djokovic could have been forgiven for reasonable confidence; after all, hec had qualified for the semi-finals 11 times in his 15 previous appearances at the ATP finals.

Sinner got the first break of the match – assisted by Djokovic double-faulting – to move into a 6-5 lead, much to the delight of his home crowd. They were gleeful to watch him win nine points on the bounce to take the opening set.

And the second set was equally tight, extending to a tiebreak, which the year-end world No 1 edged, 7-6 (5).

Sinner looked as if he got the decisive break, going 4-2 up in the third, but Djokovic broke him right back to get it back on serve.

So it was down to another breaker, and this time the 22-year-old seized the advantage and did not let it slip, racing to a 5-0 lead assisted by his powerful shots from the baseline – even after more than three hours of play – and then doing enough to take it 6-2 and send the Turin crowd home delighted.

Sixth man to beat Djokovic in 2023

Sinner becomes the sixth man to beat Djokovic this year, joining Carlos Alcaraz (in the final of Wimbledon), Holger Rune (in the Rome quarter-final), Dusan Lajovic (in Banja Luka), Lorenzo Musetti (in Monte-Carlo), and Daniil Medvedev (in Dubai).

Djokovic is famously dominant in tiebreaks – and Sinner’s win means he is just the tenth player to beat him in a third-set decider.

It was Sinner’s second win over a world No 1 this year, having beaten Alcaraz in the Miami semi-final.

Sinner is now 2-0 for the week in Turin, having beaten Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets on Sunday, and is top of the Red Group, though his place in the semi-finals is not yet mathematically confirmed.

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