ATP Finals: Will Jannik Sinner's heroic fight be punished in the end?
With his success against Holger Rune at the ATP Finals in Turin , Jannik Sinner cleared a semi-final place for Novak Djokovic. That could cost the South Tyroleans dearly on Sunday.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Nov 17, 2023, 08:44 am
By Jens Huiber from Turin
Shortly before one o'clock in the morning, fireworks went off again over Turin. We don't know exactly whether this was done in honor of Jannik Sinner's victory. The South Tyrolean, who advanced to the semi-finals of the ATP Finals with a perfect match record, hadn't even appeared at his press conference yet. After the win against Holger Rune, a few TV interviews were scheduled, during which Sinner also stated that he had never thought of giving up.
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And Jannik Sinner obviously didn't think about potentially making the rest of the tournament a little easier for himself. Because another little inattention in the ninth game of the third set would have given Rune victory. And Novak Djokovic an earlier trip home.
Sinner is still waiting for his opponent
In any case, during the game between Sinner and Rune, there was a lot of excitement on social media. Basic tenor: Hopefully he will (not) give it away, depending on which faction the respective Twitter user(s) feel like they belong to. Many people in the hall apparently weren't aware of the fact that Sinner didn't have to win this match because he was already in the semi-finals anyway. People suffered as if the crown of Turin was at stake.
Jannik Sinner will find out his opponent for Saturday today; it will be either Carlos Alcaraz or Alexander Zverev, maybe even Daniil Medvedev. If Sinner plays like he did in the first set against Rune and almost the entire match against Novak Djokovic on Tuesday, he will beat Alcaraz as well as Zverev; he recently won against a Medvedev in good form in Beijing and Vienna. If Sinner slows down even a little bit like he did after winning the first set against Rune, then things will be tight.
And it would be really exciting on Sunday if we actually saw Novak Djokovic again. Gratitude cannot be expected from Serbs. Rather, it is to be feared that Jannik Sinner's almost heroic act of fairness could fall on his head again at the end of these ATP Finals.
Here is the individual tableau in Turin
turinmap