Djokovic seals year-end top spot with ATP Finals win over Rune

TURIN – Novak Djokovic will finish the year as world No. 1 for a record-extending eighth time after beating Holger Rune 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (1-7), 6-3 in his opening match at the ATP Finals on Sunday.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion needed just one win or a defeat for young rival Carlos Alcaraz in order to secure top spot in the ATP rankings and prevailed in a three-hour Green Group clash with debutant Rune.

The Spanish world No. 2, meanwhile, was beaten by eighth-ranked German Alexander Zverev 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-4 in the early Red Group match on Monday.

Djokovic, on a run of 19 straight wins, has had an age-defying season, winning three Slams to become the all-time record men’s winner of Major titles.

The 36-year-old came into the Finals in Turin off the back of

his seventh triumph at the Paris Masters,

his 40th victory at a Masters 1000 event.

Those are two more records to add to a long and growing list for Djokovic, who is hunting a seventh Finals title which would take him one ahead of retired great Roger Federer.

“It means a lot. You could see that there were a lot of emotions on the court,” said Djokovic.

“I could feel it, I was very eager to win the match and get that monkey off my back... Obviously a big objective, a big goal has been achieved, everything else now is a bonus.”

Djokovic looked on course for victory when he took a brutal opening set in decisive fashion, prevailing in the tiebreak with a stunning cross-court return winner.

But the 20-year-old Rune, who had won in two of their first four meetings, was undeterred and cranked up the power to take the second set to another tiebreak which he raced away with.

Djokovic broke early in the deciding set, but then handed back the advantage with a poor service game, smashing two rackets during the changeover.

Rune wavered again at 2-3 as he lost his focus and began to rant at coach Boris Becker.

This time there was no coming back as Djokovic eased home.

“I found a way to win today against an opponent who played brilliantly... he had a lot of courage today,” added Djokovic in Italian.

“If I want to keep up with these youngsters, I’m going to have to work even harder!”

Despite his defeat, Rune was proud of his showing against the world No. 1.

“We have had great matches always when we played,” Rune said. “Unfortunately I couldn’t do it today, but that’s how it is. I have to look forward and take the things out of the match I was happy with, take the things out of the match that I wasn’t happy with, and go back to the practice tomorrow and try to make them better.

“I thought it was a higher level match than in Paris, that I’m glad,” added Rune, who lost a three-setter to Djokovic at the Masters 1000 event in France earlier in November. “The result was pretty similar. Novak is an amazing player.”

Earlier, home hope Jannik Sinner got off to a near-perfect start by

beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4,

delighting the crowd.

World No. 4 Sinner has had the best season of his career to date, winning four events while reaching the Wimbledon last four and is set to become the first Italian to end a season in the ATP’s top five.

The 22-year-old comfortably dealt with 2019 champion Tsitsipas in front of an enthusiastic crowd, not dropping a service game nor facing a break point in the match.

“The atmosphere was really, really nice. It’s a huge pleasure for me to play here in Turin, in Italy,” he said. “Obviously a little bit more pressure, but I managed it really well today, so I’m happy.”

Tsitsipas denied he had any physical problems even though he looked way below his best, telling reporters: “I’m healthy. I’m ready to compete.”

The 25-year-old had to play down reports of an elbow injury which curtailed practice ahead of his tournament opener.

“I’m absolutely fine and I’m ready to play this tournament. Turin is one of the most important events of the year for me,” he said. AFP, REUTERS