Novak Djokovic seems to be the target man for all young tennis players since he turned 36. The Serbian was handed his first loss against an under-22 player at the Wimbledon finals against Carlos Alcaraz. Since then, Djokovic has won the Cincinnati Open, US Open, and Rolex Paris Masters and it seems that the taste of defeat has long since gone.
But it came hunting him against Jannik Sinner, a 22-year-old, at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, as Djokovic spent much of the three-hour and nine-minute battle back from behind until he finally succumbed to his sixth defeat of the season.
Novak Djokovic reflects on loss to Jannik Sinner
Novak Djokovic suffered his first defeat after four encounters with Jannik Sinner at the ATP Finals in Turin. With backing of the crowd Jannik Sinner found a way to halt the Serbian’s 16 winning run yesterday night earning a dramatic victory. The 7-5, 6-7(5), 7-6(2) result takes Sinner to the top of the command of Green Group with a 2-0 lead, even though his qualification for the knockout semi-final stage is not yet confirmed.
This is the fourth player from the NextGen youngsters that has defeated him. With the likes of Holger Rune, Carlos Alcaraz and Dominic Thiem already succeeding him, the Serbian believes everyone wants to get a fair share of his head after the Jannik Sinner defeat. “I think it’s normal, they want to get to where I got to. This happens everywhere I play. Everyone wants my head. Jannik got it today. But I’m happy with how I fought.”
Novak Djokovic on playing against the crowd in his match against Jannik Sinner: “I expected it, he’s the only Italian here, & he’s playing in Italy. There’s a lot of hype and he’s in great form, so it’s normal that people wanted him to be the winner.”
Djokovic also said that Jannik Sinner ‘absolutely deserved to win’: “Last time we were in the semifinals at Wimbledon, I won in three sets but it was hard fought. A few points made the difference. I think on that occasion, he played like today, but this time perhaps he served better & was more courageous on the important points. He deserved to win because on the important points I gave him the opportunity to take control of the points.”
“I wasn’t decisive enough. I was in the exchange & I should have put my foot down. I didn’t & he did. He absolutely deserved to win. In this type of match there are few opportunities. If you don’t take them, the other will. In certain moments I have to be more decisive. But that’s okay, sometimes you win & sometimes you lose. Most of the time I’ve won games like this. I don’t think I did too many things wrong. He was simply brave when he had to be,” Djokovic added.
Jannik Sinner’s next opponent at ATP World Tour Finals
Jannik Sinner, who is in command of the group, would take on Holger Rune next, while Novak Djokovic would take on an already injured Stefanos Tsitsipas in the next game. Novak Djokovic opened the Green group game after defeating Holger Rune to cement his place as year-end world no.1.
In the other group game, Stefanos Tsitsipas struggled to put up a strong defense against a crowd-backed Jannik Sinner. Also, Stefanos Tsitsipas was forced to retire after sustaining an injury during his cheap loss to Holger Rune. The Greek star later admitted that he arrived at the competition with an injury and regretted that he didn’t give his spot to another player.
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