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By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday November 14, 2022

 
Djokovic

Novak Djokovic dispatched Stefanos Tsitsipas to move to the top of the standings at the ATP Finals.

Photo Source: Getty Images

At the end of a bizarre, trying 2022, Novak Djokovic has his sights set on making the following statement to the rest of the ATP Tour: he's far from done as a dominant force on tour.

He took the first step on Monday.

Tennis Express

The five-time Nitto ATP Finals champion rode firmly past Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 7-6(4) to move to the top of the Red Group standings in Turin, thanks to a brilliant serving effort that saw him win all but 13 points on serve and save the only break point he faced.


Djokovic, who will face Andrey Rublev on Wednesday in Turin, improves to 42-17 lifetime at the ATP Finals and 10-2 against Tsitsipas – he has now captured each of his last nine matches against the Greek.

In the pair's fourth meeting of 2022 the Serb stepped out on the front foot, breaking serve in the first game of the match. It was all he needed to set a confident tone that would eventually take him to 23 winners against 15 unforced errors, (including 17 forehand winners against just six unforced errors of that wing) and a relatively umomplicated victory that would take 98 minutes to achieve.

“The first game was obviously very important to break his serve,” Djokovic said in an on-court interview. “Starting with a break of serve, it's obviously a huge boost of confidence and a relief as well because we both knew that this was going to be a tough and tight match for both of us. We played some really close matches in the last few tournaments against each other.”

Djokovic is now 4-0 against Tsitsipas this year, including a victory in a third-set tiebreaker in Paris less than two weeks ago. He also recorded a straight-sets win over Tsitsipas in the Astana Final in September, as well as a victory over the Greek in the red clay in this year’s Rome final in May.

“It was very important to start off well, right out of the blocks,” Djokovic said of his 38th victory against seven losses in 2022. “I did that."


Tsitsipas certainly wasn't invisible in this contest. The 24-year-old was a menace on serve, particularly in the second set, and 29 of his 61 serves came back unreturned.

Djokovic was up to the test and never bent under the scoreboard pressure place on him in set two.

“Held my serve really well throughout more or less the entire match,” Djokovic recalled. “Only one game I faced a break point where I made two double-faults. I was just fortunate to get out of that trouble, and played a great tiebreaker; just stayed solid all the way through the match.”

Turin Playing Fast – Even Faster than Paris

Djokovic talked about the unique conditions in Turin, saying that the pace of play of the indoor surface is quicker than what he saw in Paris.

“Paris was definitely faster than it was last year,” he said. “But here you get even more, I think, out of the good serves. If you're serving well, you get a lot of free points. It's a bit of an altitude as well that affects the ball.”

The 21-time major champ says it isn’t exactly easy to time the ball, but it was Tsitsipas who struggled to make solid contact. The Greek shanked at least five backhands off the frame of his racquet, and finished the match with 12 unforced errors off of that wing.

“It's not easy to control the ball, definitely from the back to the court; not easy to get breaks of serve,” Djokovic said. “Tonight the key was the first game and after that I just managed to to hold my nerves in the right moments.”

Djokovic, along with Rafael Nadal, is bidding to become the oldest champion in ATP Finals history this week. The 35-year-old is also angling to tie Federer on the all-time titles list at the ATP Finals with six.


 

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