ATP Finals: Djokovic defeats Rune in three sets
Defending champion Novak Djokovic has made a successful start to the ATP Finals, but had to fight for more than three hours for his first victory. The world number one from Serbia won his opening match in Turin against the young Danish star coached by Boris Becker, Holger Rune, after a tough battle 7:6 (7:4), 6:7 (1:7), 6:3.
After exactly 3:04 hours, the 36-year-old converted his first match point. This also means that Djokovic will end the year as number one in the world.
In the first match of the day, the Italian Jannik Sinner had previously beaten the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas 6:4, 6:4 to take a first step towards the semi-finals.
Alexander Zverev will not be involved in the action until today. The Olympic champion will face Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz from Spain in his opening match at 2.30 pm (Sky). His other opponents in the preliminary round are the two Russians Daniil Medvedev and Andrei Rublev.
Rune ran out of steam in the third round
Djokovic and Rune fought a thrilling duel in the Pala Alpitour in Turin. The 20-year-old Rune was one break ahead in the first two sets, but was unable to defend his lead in each case. Djokovic, who has won the Australian Open, the French Open and the US Open this year, won the first tie-break. Rune clearly had the upper hand in the second tie-break. Rune then lost his strength in the third round.
Sinner was the more dominant player against Tsitsipas right from the start. The 22-year-old served well and didn't concede a single break point in the entire match. Tsitsipas, on the other hand, lost his serve once in both sets and had to concede defeat after 1:25 hours. Sinner converted his first match point with an ace and was loudly celebrated by the Italian fans afterwards.
In the thrilling ATP Finals match, Novak Djokovic outlasted Holger Rune, despite Rune holding a break advantage in the first two sets. Djokovic eventually claimed victory after a tough three-set battle, with Rune running out of steam during the decisive round.
Source: www.dpa.com
