Last week, Sinner snapped Djokovic’s 19-win streak in the round-robin stage of the Green Group at the ATP finals.
He triumphed over the Serbian phenom with a 7-5 6-7 7-6 victory and deemed it the most special win of his career.
But having a knack for avenging his defeats, Djokovic quickly turned the tables and won himself a ticket to the finals, where Sinner awaited him.
Sinner, Djokovic, and the Finale
Although they had different goals in mind, the two entered the thrilling finale with the same intense desire to win the championship.
For Sinner, he wanted to win his first trophy at the prestigious tournament, not only for his own sake but also for the support of the local crowd, who had been steadfast in their support of him throughout the tournament, even singing ‘Ole, Ole, Ole’ whenever he won.
For Djokovic, he was looking to clinch his seventh trophy and smash another record in the annals of tennis history.
Before the start of the season-ending tournament, he had already expressed his intentions boldly: ‘If I don’t want to be humble and be honest, I’m going to win the tournament. If I want to be humble, I’m also winning the tournament.’
And whether this was a prediction, manifestation, or whatever one may call it, Djokovic made his statement come true.
He defeated the Italian player 6-3, 6-3 to avenge his loss against him last week, and he did so in a dominant fashion. His performance rating went as high as 9.75, surpassing that of Sinner’s 9.63 rating back in Miami.
He has now won seven times at the tournament and broken Roger Federer’s record of six ATP finals victories.
All Praise
2008 🏆
2012 🏆
2013 🏆
2014 🏆
2015 🏆
2022 🏆
2023 🏆🆕A record-breaking SEVEN #NittoATPFinals titles for @DjokerNole!! pic.twitter.com/K0TCuRcD1P
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) November 19, 2023
Despite his loss to Djokovic, Sinner had nothing but praise for the 36-year-old Serb.
“He won here now seven times, right? His body is in an incredible shape. We’re going to see him around for I don’t know how many years still. What I said on court is that he’s an inspiration because he worked throughout the whole years before when he was younger in the right way to get to this point,” Sinner said, via Turin press.
Cover Photo: IG