TORINO – Three hours and a few minutes to overcome one of the young lions who want to dethrone him. It was already past midnight when Novak Djokovic raised his hands to the sky to celebrate the victory and above all another year as number one and actually four hundred weeks as the leader of world tennis. A number that confirms the importance of this athlete for this sport.
But congratulations to Rune, who seemed genuinely regenerated by Becker’s treatment: Bum Bum on the sidelines didn’t hold back on advice and physical presence, always trying to remind his new student to breathe. And in fact, the Dane’s aggressiveness created some problems for the Serb, who always had to hunt him down: in fact, both in the first and second sets, Rune managed breaks that he failed to save.
The conclusion was two tie-breaks, which the challengers shared equally. But in the end, the youngest ran out of oxygen, and Đoković, despite two broken rackets, avoided another danger (he later apologized to the public) because he immediately took off in the third set, and Rune no longer had the strength to return to the match.
Djokovic joins Sinner at the head of the group and according to regulation they will meet each other on Tuesday evening at 9 pm, and whoever wins will practically advance to the semi-finals.
