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Jannik Sinner achieved a new milestone, beating Novak Djokovic for the first time in his career, and taking a fundamental step towards qualifying for the semi-finals of the ATP Finals 2023. Sinner is the tenth player to beat Djokovic in a decisive 3rd set tie-break.
A statistic that confirms how the victory obtained by the Italian at the PalaAlpitour in Turin is the result of a technical, tactical, physical and mental maturation. Before the age of 23 year-old, only two other athletes were able to achieve this goal, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz.
The world number 4 was able to show once again how he has grown in recent weeks, in these types of tough matches. Sinner kept the level of concentration and intensity of the game very high.
10 - With victory in Turin, Jannik Sinner is now the 10th player to defeat Novak Djokovic in a deciding third-set tiebreak.
Only three players did so before turning 23 - Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner. Wow.#NittoATPFinals | @janniksin @atptour @ATPMediaInfo pic.twitter.com/SV44toCBXI — OptaAce (@OptaAce) November 14, 2023
And Djokovic praised Sinner at the press conference
After the defeat against the young Italian tennis player, Djokovic analyzed the match at the press conference, also underlining the role played by the Turin crowd.
"Obviously Jannik is the only Italian in the tournament and playing in Italy in front of the home crowd, which motivates him a lot.
It's normal that people were rooting for him. We faced each other last time in Wimbledon, in the semifinals. I won in three sets, but the match was very balanced: a few points decided each set. Compared to the match played at Wimbledon, he served better.
But I think the main difference was the courage with which he played the important points. He deserved the victory. I wasn't aggressive and decisive enough in the crucial phases. I gave him the opportunity to take control of the exchanges.
I simply have to congratulate him. He played a fantastic match. This is what I told him during the handshake. Do Alcaraz and Sinner seem very motivated when they face me? I don't think there's anything strange. It's normal that they want to beat me.
This happens everywhere I play. Everyone wants my scalp, Jannik got it today. He's losing matches like this, but I'm happy with how I fought," explained the Serb.