Sublime Sinner thrills Turin

Roared on by boisterous home fans, rising Italian star edges Djokovic in enthralling battle at ATP Finals

TURIN, Italy — Novak Djokovic's winning streak was halted at 19 matches as home favorite Jannik Sinner was roared to a superb 7-5,6-7 (5), 7-6 (2) victory by a partisan ATP Finals crowd in Turin on Tuesday.

The earlier Green Group clash was a non-event as Stefanos Tsitsipas retired injured against Holger Rune, but the evening ticket-holders were treated to a match of jaw-dropping quality.

After more than three hours of an absorbing toe-to-toe battle in which neither player took a backward step it was world No 4 Sinner who seized his chance in the deciding set tiebreak to finally crack Djokovic's resistance.

Sinner, 14 years Djokovic's junior, wrapped up his first career win against the 24-time Grand Slam champion with a smash — prompting deafening roars from a sell-out crowd who produced an electrifying atmosphere throughout.

He moves top of the group but is not yet guaranteed a semifinal spot ahead of his final round-robin match against Rune on Thursday when Djokovic, who will end the year as No 1 for a record-stretching eighth time, plays alternate Hubert Hurkacz.

Sinner, Djokovic and Rune could all still end up with two wins each in a group that is too close to call.

Sinner has enjoyed his best year on tour and now has 59 match wins in 2023, but none would have given him more pleasure than taking down six-time ATP Finals champion Djokovic.

The Italian moved 2-0 ahead in the deciding tiebreak with a rocket of a forehand return and then gave himself daylight with another forehand winner to make it 3-0.

Once he moved 5-0 ahead not even Djokovic's powers of recovery could spare the Serb his first loss since defeat by Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final.

"It's a sort of process, I feel that I'm more confident in certain moments," Sinner told Amazon Prime.

"In the second-set tiebreak he played a bit better than me but I think I was brave in the big moments. We were both serving very well, I think we both played really, really well."

Reigning champion Djokovic did not do much wrong as he battled Sinner and the crowd — regularly jesting with the fans who jeered him throughout the duel.

Sinner made his move at 5-5 in the opening set as Djokovic briefly lost focus after leading 40-0 on serve.

A double-fault at deuce was cheered by the crowd and Sinner then converted the break with two punishing backhands. Sinner then held serve to love to move in front.

Djokovic raised his level a notch in the second set and dropped only five points on his serve before the tiebreak which he edged to extend the contest into a decider.

Sinner broke for a 4-2 lead but Djokovic broke back immediately. When Sinner then moved 6-5 ahead on serve, Djokovic sat in his chair and conducted the jeers before a calm service hold sent an epic tussle into a shootout.

The smart money would have been on Djokovic to make a 20-match unbeaten streak for the ninth time in his career, but Sinner had other ideas as he chalked up one of the biggest wins of a career that now seems on the verge of liftoff.

"To beat the world No 1, who has 24 Grand Slams, that means a lot, it's one of the top (wins)," he said.

The match statistics summed up the quality on offer with a combined 83 winners and only 25 unforced errors in a contest lasting three hours and nine minutes.

"There doesn't exist a better place to beat the world No 1. After Wimbledon I said I felt a bit closer but I didn't even win a set," Sinner said in his on-court interview, which was interrupted by the crowd serenading him with "Ole, Ole, Ole Ole, Sinner, Sin-ner."

"Here I managed to play the most important points in the best way. There was a bit of tension when I lost the second set, it was very hard, but together with you (the crowd), we won together."

The umpire had to tell the fans to be quiet several times as they fervently cheered the Italian player on and also booed Djokovic several times.

The 36-year-old Djokovic, who normally enjoys huge support in Italy, lapped up the boos and even encouraged the fans to up their hostility toward him.

Asked about the raucous crowd, Djokovic said: "I expected it, he's the only Italian here and he's playing in Italy. There's a lot of hype and he's in great form, so it's normal."

Sinner is finishing up a year in which he has claimed four titles, including his first Masters 1000 trophy, and moved to a career-high No 4 — the first Italian that high since Adriano Panatta nearly a half-century ago.

'Really gutted'

Tsitsipas withdrew with a back injury after playing only three games of his second match in Turin.

Tsitsipas, the 2019 champion, was trailing 2-1 in the opening set when he had a lengthy conversation with his trainer before slowly getting to his feet, shaking his head and walking over to shake Rune's hand.

That was after only 17 minutes of play and led to boos from the crowd in Turin, which instead had to settle for an exhibition match between alternates Taylor Fritz and Hurkacz.

"My apologies to all the fans and the crowd that came to support me today and watch the match. I'm really gutted that I wasn't able to finish the match," Tsitsipas said. "My doctors and the countless visits that I had in the last few days suggested that I play, they gave me the green light to go and try.

"Unfortunately I felt terrible on the court ... I hate retiring from matches, I'm not that kind of person that likes leaving mid-match and it kills me not to be able to finish this tournament, the one that I've prepped so long for, made sure that I'm completely fit to perform at my best and show my capacities as a player."

Tsitsipas had cut short a practice session on Friday because of an apparent physical issue, but the Greek player said he was "absolutely fine".

Rune lost his opener to Djokovic 7-6 (4), 6-7 (1), 6-3. "It is very unfortunate," Rune said. "You could see in the first service game, he was not serving as full as he can."

Tsitsipas also withdrew from the tournament in 2021 after losing his opening match.

"It definitely hurts me a lot because this is the tournament that means the most to me, including the Grand Slams," he said.

Agencies via Xinhua